Castles in the Closet
by CheerfulChemist
Summary: Entry to Castle Ficathon for winter hiatus. Post Ep 808. Rick and Kate are pretending to be separated, but from their activities in the Janitor's Closet, Mop & Broom & Co. know it isn't true. Rick and Kate will be working cases while pursuing LokSat. Nothing Castle is mine but for better or worse, the cleaning crew are.
1. Chapter 1

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 1

A/N Here's a quick tutorial for those who don't know these characters from my previous stories. Broom was once a full sized broom, but he was damaged and made into a whisk broom. He's been at the precinct the longest. He comes on as a prude. Broomie is a full sized young broom who has Broom's old handle. Maggie is a young Swiffer®. She and Broomie like each other. Mop is an eager voyeur and delights in annoying Broom by telling him about sexual activity he sees and hears about, especially involving Rick and Kate. These characters are occupants of the Janitor's Closet that Beckett used to trap the film crew in _Swan Song_. There are other inanimate characters around the precinct and the loft. Kate's hairbrush brings info from the loft back to the precinct. She and Mop particularly enjoy talking. The espresso machine Castle bought for the break room hears all the conversation in there and is a huge source of information. Boomer is the janitor who comes in at night to clean.

"What happened?" Mop asked after a shaking female hand returned Broom and Dustpan to their place.

"Wastebasket said Kate had pulled one of those things with the long noses she used to have on her old desk out of a drawer in her new one. She was holding it when she got a phone call. He said she looked very upset and dropped it. It broke all over the floor and she brought me in there to clean it up. The way she was holding me was kind of like a machine - stiff. She was very white and she was crying," Broom added.

Mop's tendrils twisted nervously. "Sounds like there's a lot of activity out there. There must be a body."

"Yeah," Broom speculated, "a body of someone Kate knew."

* * *

As Maggie was returned to the closet, crumbs clinging to her cloth, she immediately let her grip fall against Broomie's handle. "What did you hear in the break room?" Broomie asked.

"I didn't hear much of anything, but Espresso did. He said that the cops were coming in there looking gloomy and a couple of them even had tears in their eyes when they used him. They were talking about things they remembered about Rick. Then Ryan came bursting in. He announced that the body they'd thought was Rick was someone else, a guy named Paul Dyson. He looked a lot like Rick, in fact a serial killer had used him to frame Rick for murder. His face had been partially burned too. But the minute that nasty doctor, Perlmutter, got to the scene, he knew it wasn't Rick. He'd made some comments about Dyson being younger and in better shape. He also checked the fingerprints. I don't know how someone could talk that way when everyone was so upset, but I guess Perlmutter doesn't like Rick very much."

Broom's bristles rustled. "No wonder Kate was crying. She thought she'd lost her husband. Of course everyone around here thinks they're separated."

Mop swayed enthusiastically on his tendrils. "It's amazing how well those two have the humans around here fooled, considering what they do together in here. You remember that argument they were having a couple of days ago that everyone in the precinct could hear? He accused her of breaking every promise she'd ever made about being partners and shutting him out. And she yelled at him about not trusting her to do what she needed to do by herself. Then they came in here and his handle thing was so stiff he could hardly get his pants open. And she had her hands all up under his shirt. They kissed like they were going to eat each other and then she wrapped her legs around him as he had her up against the door. I thought they might break it, they were going at it so hard. Dispenser started pumping along with them and half her soap dripped out. Boomer had to clean it up before he put us on the cart that night."

"Please," Broom begged, scratching his bristles against Dustpan. "That's enough. We all saw and heard it. We've seen a lot of them lately."

"We certainly have," Mop agreed gleefully. "It's like the fights they have are what humans call foreplay. It gets them all excited so they come in here to have their fun."

"And you have yours," Broom commented dryly. "Can you remember for a second that even if Rick didn't die, someone else did? A little respect might be in order."

"Broom is right," Maggie piped up. "We should at least say a prayer to Master Cleaner for him."

"Alright," Mop acceded. "I'm not unfeeling. I just get carried away." Mop settled on his tendrils while Maggie and Broomie swayed silently.

* * *

Mop, tendrils still dripping but firmly ensconced in Bucket, was shoved through the door of the closet. "Another leak in the Men's Room?" Maggie asked.

Mop shook his handle."Toilet overflowed again. Bruce said something about Ryan's bean burritos. But the guys in there were talking a lot about Rick and Kate. Martha dragged Rick up to some yoga retreat. I guess she doesn't know Rick and Kate aren't really apart either. She thought he needed centering - whatever that is. He wasn't allowed to have a phone or a computer. He didn't even know that anyone thought he was dead until he was on his way back to the city. He told Esposito and Ryan that he was going to work on the case though, as a P.I.. He didn't like the thought of anyone killing his - what did they call it - doppelganger. I guess Dyson helped clear him when he was in trouble too, so he feels like he owes him. He told the guys he's going to hang out at the coffee shop where Dyson was a barista and see what information he can pick up. The other cops said Kate seemed awfully relieved, considering how she and Rick had been battling."

"It must be hard for her to keep up a front all the time considering how much she and Rick really love each other," Maggie offered.

"Did you actually hear anything about who killed Paul Dyson?" Broom wondered.

"A little bit," Mop replied. "Perlmutter told Ryan and Esposito the burns on Dyson's face were from hot coffee. The cops were joking that he must have had a really disgruntled customer."

"How mean!" Maggie exclaimed.

"Not really," Broom counseled. "When you've been around here longer, you'll find out that the cops still find murder upsetting, even if they seem casual about it. They use jokes to cover that up. It's like the way humans laugh when they're nervous. You've seen that, haven't you?"

Maggie fluttered her cleaning cloth. "I'm not sure, but I guess it makes sense. It's better than thinking they can just make fun about someone dying. Still I don't like it."

Broomie let the plastic loop at the tip of his handle fall into her grip. "That's because you have such a beautiful soul yourself."

Broom slid disgustedly down into the bottom of Dustpan. "Oh, here we go. Thank Master Cleaner you two are incapable of doing what Rick and Kate do."

Broomie rubbed his dull handle against Maggie's shiny one. "Sometimes I wish we could."


	2. Chapter 2

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 2

Mop flicked his sticky tendrils, trying to separate them. "What happened?" Maggie asked.

"Oh that new tech guy who replaced Tory, the one who's sneaking around secretly working on that case with Kate, he spilled a whole can of soda on the floor of Tech. It wasn't even diet, it was the stuff with all the sugar in it. Then he didn't even rinse me out. He just left me like this," Mop whined disconsolately. "I'm probably going to be all stuck together until Boomer comes tonight."

"I thought they weren't supposed to have food or drinks in Tech," Broomie put in. "Tory never did. When she sat in the break room to have her coffee, she told her friends that it was because isn't good practice to take anything into Tech because it can mess up the equipment. She didn't want to risk spilling anything on a keyboard or getting crumbs in the drives."

"Uh huh," Mop agreed. "I remember how careful she was. But from what I heard Vikram, that's the new tech, say, he gets sick and he needs the sweetness from the soda. Still that's really no excuse to make a mess out of everything, or to not rinse me out. The man's a complainer. I don't like him."

"Look who's talking about complaining!" Broom pointed out. "But I don't think you're the only one who doesn't like him. Wastebasket heard Kate tell Rick that a Vikram lied to her to get her away from Rick. Must be that new tech. Rick got really mad. He wanted to have it out with Vikram, but Kate convinced him not to. She said it could blow everything on the LokSat case."

Broomie swayed against the wall. "Oh, the LokSat case. That's what caused all the trouble between Rick and Kate. And it's why they're pretending to be apart. Espresso was talking to hairbrush when Kate left her purse in the break room for a few minutes. Hairbrush said Lucy told her that Vikram almost broke Rick and Kate up. Vikram sent Kate a message on her phone after Rick and Kate had been having the kind of fun Mop really likes, and Kate left. Rick saw the message and figured out what Kate was doing with LokSat and that she was keeping it secret from him. He was very upset with Kate. They almost split up for real before they decided to pretend."

"How did Lucy know?" Maggie wondered.

"Hairbrush said Rick told Lucy all about it," Broomie replied. "Rick tells Lucy everything."

"Wow! I wish Rick would bring Lucy here!" Mop exclaimed. "Imagine what she could tell us."

"I don't think that would work," Broomie mused. "Lucy is like a computer or something and she's connected to everything in Rick's loft somehow. Hairbrush said Rick told Kate that Lucy is his operating system."

Mop swirled his sticky tendrils as best he could. "It sure would be nice if Kate got one for the precinct. Then we'd be able to find out everything those two do."

Broom banged his wires against Dustpan with a clang. "You already know way too much about what they do! Has anyone heard anything about the case? You know, Paul Dyson's murder. That should be what's important right now."

"Yeah, a little" Maggie responded. "Ryan and Esposito brought in cronuts this morning and I heard them talking while Ryan was cleaning up the crumbs. They've been working with Rick. He took his laptop and hung out in the Java Hut where Paul Dyson worked. Rick was writing, but mostly as a cover. He was listening to the people. A couple of the baristas were talking about a coffee art contest Paul Dyson was in. He had been doing well. He won the third round. But some guy came into the shop and started yelling at Paul. He accused him of stealing one of his designs and threatened to get him for it. Rick told Ryan and Esposito about what he heard, so they're having the two baristas and a customer who saw the fight come in and work with a police artist to get a sketch so they can ID the man who threatened Paul. Once they have the sketch, they're going to have Vikram scrub the traffic and ATM video in the area and they're going to have unis canvass the neighborhood to find out if anyone knows who he is."

Broomie swayed adoringly.

"What?" Maggie asked.

"It's just that you're starting to talk like a cop," Broomie noticed. "It's kind of cute."

Broom flipped his loop in irritation. "You think everything she does is kind of cute. But what Maggie found out is good. The sketch artists usually work in the lounge and Tissue Holder there is good source of information. Ryan and Esposito will put everything they learn on Board. If there's anything else to find out, we'll get it when Boomer puts us on the cart and takes us around tonight."

Mop twirled a tendril expectantly. "We might find out sooner than that. I hear Rick's footsteps on the back stairs. I bet he's sneaking in to see Kate. He should be in here any second."

* * *

"Well that was interesting," Broom remarked.

"What was so interesting?" Mop asked, disappointed. "All they did was talk. And it wasn't even about the Dyson murder."

"No, it was better," Broom returned. "It was about LokSat. And they were having the discussion without Vikram. It's great that Rick and Kate are working on their own without that tech. Rick reached an old contact he and Kate had at the CIA, an Agent Danberg. Rick asked him about Rita, the woman who told Kate she was Rick's stepmother because she was married to his father, Jackson Hunt. Danberg said he thought Rita might be NSA. He'd heard some chatter that they had an operative by that name, but she had nothing to do with Hunt. Rick thinks Rita lied to Kate."

"Wait a minute," Maggie interrupted. "I'm confused. If Rick's father's name is Jackson Hunt, why is he called Castle? Don't humans take their father's last names?"

"Hunt is a spy name. It's made up," Broom explained. "He was also called Anderson Cross in a murder case Kate and Rick handled. Even Rick doesn't know his father's real name. But Rick wasn't always Castle either. Before he became a writer he was Rodgers like his mother."

Maggie fluttered her cloth and settled against Broomie. "Why would anyone want a different name? I think one is enough. Humans are strange. I guess I still have a lot to learn, even about the people around here."

Broom's bristles softened. "Hey, even after all the years I've been here I'm still finding things about them I need to figure out. Don't let it get you down."

Maggie drew herself up, bracing her handle against her plastic base. "I won't. Even with all the terrible things we've seen the humans do in the cases here, I'm sure Master Cleaner always has a plan."

"Yeah," Broom scratched softly. "I just wish I could understand what it is."


	3. Chapter 3

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 3

"What did you find out?" Mop inquired anxiously as Boomer returned him to the cart. "Boomer had me soaking most of the night."

"Tissue Holder said the sketch artist had a problem with the drawing of the man that yelled at Paul Dyson. The two baristas and the customer all saw him differently. Their descriptions didn't match," Broom reported unhappily. "They weren't sure if his hair was dark blond or light brown. They couldn't agree on an eye color. Mostly they just heard the argument without looking at the guy because they were embarrassed and trying to look away. So the sketch and the description are very vague. They're up on Board, but he said Ryan and Esposito didn't think they were going to be much help. The customer saw a tattoo though. She said it was an artist's palette, whatever that is, with lots of colors. Ryan said he'd have Vikram check it against tattoo data bases. Vikram hasn't come up with anything yet."

"Vikram again," Mop groaned. "He's the reason I had to spend so much time soaking my head."

* * *

"Hey," Mop reported excitedly, returning from sopping up water from the floor of the break room after an accidental blast of steam. "Espresso talked to Hairbrush this morning. Kate was at the loft last night."

Broom's bristles ruffled in disapproval. "Do I really have to hear this?"

"Well you're going to," Mop gloated. "Kate sneaked into the building through a back door so no one would see her. Rick was really glad she was there. He made dinner for her. Lucy saw that, and filled Hairbrush in."

"Nothing wrong with that," Broom conceded.

"Well Kate was really happy too. She said the meal was beautiful, magical. Rick had all kinds of colors, green and red and yellow, even purple from special potatoes. She said it was like an artists's palette. Then she remembered the tattoo she'd seen on Board and she told Rick about it. He remembered that he'd seen something like that on an artist who worked on the Derrick Storm graphic novels. He thought it might be from a particular school of design, so he called Gina, his publisher. She's also Rick's second ex-wife and Kate doesn't like her very much, but Gina gave Rick the artist's number. Rick found out there was a club of graphic artists and designers who went to the same art school. They all had the same tattoo. Rick got a list and gave it to Kate for Ryan and Esposito to check out. And you know how Rick and Kate are when they make progress on a case together."

Broom flipped his loop. "Oh please, do you have to go there?"

Mop fluttered his tendrils in triumph. "Oh I do, I really do. They couldn't wait to make it to the bedroom. Lucy told Hairbrush they started in the kitchen. They were grabbing at each other. They even knocked some of Rick's food off the table and just left it on the floor. Then Rick lifted Kate up. She wrapped herself around him and they kissed all the way as he carried her to the bed. Lucy couldn't see anything after that. Neither could Hairbrush. But they heard a lot of the heavy breathing those two do when they're really having fun with each other. The bed was creaking and the headboard slammed against the wall. Finally Kate screamed and then they were quiet for most of the night. Kate's phone chimed at her early in the morning and she got up. Rick didn't want her to. He wanted her to stay in bed with him. She didn't want to leave either, but she said she had to get out before anyone was awake to see her. So she went.

Maggie rubbed her grip against Broomie's handle. "Poor Rick. He misses her."

"Yeah but that means we'll see more of them in here," Mop replied in joyous anticipation.

"You know," Broom pointed out, eager to break Mop's train of thought, "when Ryan and Esposito check out the people on Rick's list, they may find out who killed Paul Dyson. They'll at least have a suspect. If they put him in Interrogation, Chair can tell us what happens."

* * *

Boomer parked the cart in interrogation while he ran Vacuum and wiped down the table. "Yeah, they were in here," Chair responded to Broom's query. "The suspect, they called him Cory Bray, protested that the coffee they brought him was terrible and asked if he could make his own. Esposito took him to the break room to use Espresso. Then when they came back, Ryan told Cory how nice the design on his coffee was and asked him if he'd ever entered a contest. That really got Cory talking. He told them all about the contest he'd been in with Paul Dyson. He claimed to have created a foam Christmas Angel and told them that he thought Dyson had copied it. Cory went to Java Hut to tell Dyson to stick to using his own designs, but Dyson claimed he had an angel of his own. Dyson even took him in the back of the cafe showed him photographs of an angel he'd put on Christmas coffees a couple of years before. Cory admitted he ended up apologizing to Dyson and wishing him good luck in his contest. But Cory also said there were a couple of guys in a little office that glared at Paul when he took Cory to the back of the shop."

"Did Esposito and Ryan believe Cory's story?" Broomie wondered.

"As usual, Esposito didn't," Chair replied. "He asked Cory for an alibi for the time Dyson was killed. Cory said he was teaching a foam art class. Ryan checked and Cory was telling the truth, so they let him go. But before he went, he drew the faces of the two men he'd seen in the back of Java Hut. So now Ryan and Esposito have to figure out who they are. They're checking who has what they called the franchise on the Java Hut Dyson worked at and they have some unis canvassing - again. They're also distributing the drawings of the two men to other divisions to see if anyone recognizes them. Ryan said Kate had to go to a big meeting at 1PP and he and Esposito were going to show the drawings to her in the morning. They emailed them to Rick, too."

Broom swayed against Dustpan in their niche in the cart. "We should have known it couldn't be that simple. It's almost never the first suspect. But at least Ryan and Esposito have something to go on."

"Mmm," Mop mused. "with any luck, if Kate visits Rick again tonight, he may show her those pictures before she sees them from Ryan and Esposito."

"As if you're really thinking about Rick showing Kate pictures," Broom accused with cynicism born of experience. "Anyway, even if she recognizes someone tonight, she won't be able to admit it until she sees his picture from Ryan and Esposito in the morning. No one in the precinct knows she goes anywhere near the loft to be with Rick."

Mop drew himself up on his tendrils. "You mean no human knows." His handle spun. "We certainly know."

"We do," Broom admitted, "but good luck in convincing me to enjoy your sordid enlightenment." Broom slid as far as he could into Dustpan and waited to be returned to the closet."


	4. Chapter 4

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 4

"What happened in Kate's office?" Maggie asked after Ryan returned Broom and Dustpan to the closet.

"She knocked her little bowl off her desk and all the candy spilled on the floor," Broom replied. "According to what I heard from Wastebasket when Ryan dumped Dustpan into him, Ryan and Esposito were showing her the pictures Cory Bray drew. Maybe she didn't make it to the loft last night, or Rick didn't show them to her first, because she was surprised and very upset. She recognized one of the men as someone she had seen at when she was held prisoner by Vulcan Simmons. Ryan told her he had already passed the pictures on to Narcotics, but he'd call some of his friends there to see if any of them knew anything about the man in the picture."

"So is Kate going to be okay?" Maggie prompted.

"Oh come on!" Mop interjected. "It's Kate, and it was just a picture. She's handled a lot worse than that. Ooh, but if she is really upset, maybe she'll call Rick. That could be good!"

"I'm really beginning to understand why Broom gets so mad at you," Maggie declared. "That's just terrible! Bad things happen and all you're worried about is watching the humans have your kind of fun."

"Maggie's right," Broomie put in, leaning his handle against her grip. "if Kate calls Rick right now it should be for comfort not for - that."

Mop gathered his tendrils defensively around his head. "That's right, just gang up on me. Wait, is that Kate coming this way with ugh, Vikram?"

Maggie fluttered her cloth. "Sounds like it. Why couldn't they talk in Tech or her office?"

"All the cops in the bullpen were kind staring at her office after the commotion in there. Maybe they want somewhere more private," Broom suggested. "But it is kind of strange, since she doesn't trust him as much now that she knows he lied to keep her away from Rick."

"So she wanted Vikram to retrace all of Bracken's drug connections," Broomie recapped. "That makes sense, he was working on them anyway as a way to the LokSat person."

"It could be more than that," Broom offered. "Maybe she wants to see if he and Narcotics come up with the same thing about the man in Cory's picture. She could be giving him some kind of test. Sounds like she's coming back by herself. Maybe she wants to call Rick from here. She's done that before."

"What's laundering money?" Maggie asked in confusion after Kate finished her call and left. "Does it get dirty? Do they wash it like humans wash clothes?"

"The detectives here talk about that a lot," Broom told her. "It's not really cleaning anything, more like making something dirty look clean. When crooks or drug dealers get a lot of money, places called banks and something called the IRS - nobody seems to like that very much - ask where it comes from. So the money gets put into businesses, like Java Huts, so that it looks like it was made honestly. From what I heard, Kate thinks the Java Hut where Dyson works was being used that way. She was wondering if Paul Dyson found out and that's what got him killed. But she was also thinking that since the man she recognized from the picture was connected to Simmons, he might have been connected to Bracken and maybe even working with LokSat now."

"Oh," Maggie realized, "that's why she was so worried when Rick said he wanted to go back there to look for suspicious activity. She was afraid if someone saw Rick, he might be recognized as connected with her and they might hurt him."

"That's right," Broom confirmed. "The people who held her prisoner, they almost killed her. She's probably right to be worried."

"Well, Rick did promise to let Ryan's people at Narcotics look into it before he thinks about going back to Java Hut," Maggie comforted herself.

"He also said he was going to go at it from another angle, something to do with coffee," Broomie added.

Mop twined his tendrils in anticipation. "Coffee makes fun things happen with Rick and Kate."

Broom clattered against Dustpan."How could you take the discussion there? I can't stand it! I just can't stand it!"

* * *

"Boomer left me in Bucket in the Men's Room," Mop complained when he was finally returned to the cart during the janitor's nightly rounds. "What did you all hear?"

"Wastebasket said Ryan told Kate that Narcotics had their suspicions about some of the Java Huts, but they've never been able to prove anything," Broomie reported. "He thought that with Kate's identification of someone seen at a Java Hut as involved with drugs, it would be enough to get a warrant for Narcotics to search the place. They were bending over the computer together working on that. Then when Ryan left, Kate called Rick and asked him to talk to Judge Markaway. It sounded like Rick and Markaway are friends."

"Oh they are," Broom confirmed. "That actually got on Kate's nerves when Rick first came. Rick knew the judge better than she did because they played golf and cards together. She used to be mad that Rick knew the Mayor too. They clashed over that on one of their cases."

"She must have gotten over it," Maggie observed.

"Well obviously," Mop responded. "But if she called Rick to help her out that way, it bodes well for the night at the loft."

"You still just can't think of anything else can you?" Broom accused. "I'm really not sorry to disappoint you, but Kate told Rick she had some kind of function at 1PP tonight and she promised Deputy Chief Gates she'd be there. She said it would probably go late and she didn't think she'd have time to go and see him. She said normally she'd have him with her as a spouse, but they had to keep up their front."

"I am really beginning to hate all this phony separation stuff!" Mop exclaimed.

"What?" Broom jibed. "I thought you where getting your swirls from their secret meetings in our closet. So now you're only going to be satisfied with seeing their fun in the closet and getting to hear about all their fun in the loft?"

"Maybe you should spend more time praying to Master Cleaner," Maggie offered to Mop, "it might calm you down."

"It doesn't calm you and Broomie down," Mop retorted. "If you guys spent as much time with your heads in water as I do, maybe you'd understand. You guys are always dry. I need to watch and hear about the kind of fun that Rick and Kate have, all that I can. It's the only thing that really makes my tendrils feel warm again."

"I'm sorry, Mop," Maggie soothed, "I didn't understand. You know, if you fall over just a little from your place in the closet, you'd be closer to the heating vent. You'd be warmer."

Mop shook out his still damp tendrils. "Believe me, Maggie, it just wouldn't be the same."


	5. Chapter 5

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 5

"What did you hear in the break room?" Broom asked as Maggie was returned to the closet, her cloth coated in powdered sugar.

"Espresso has been listening all morning," Maggie replied, trying her best not to transfer her load to the closet floor. "Esposito has been telling the other cops about the joint raid he and Ryan did with Narcotics on the Java Hut where Paul Dyson worked. Espresso said he thought Esposito was trying to make himself sound like a big deal, because Espresso knew Ryan and Kate actually did most of the work making the raid happen."

Broom fluttered his straws impatiently. "So what happened? What did they find?"

"Heroin - that's a drug - a lot of it, from what Espresso heard. CSU took fingerprints from the office at Java Hut too," Maggie added. "Some of them came up right away as from a known drug dealer, but not the guy Kate recognized. Espresso said Esposito was disappointed with that. He said if the fingerprints of the guy Kate was looking for were there, they didn't match anyone in the system. That would mean he was smart enough not to get caught, which makes him more dangerous."

"Did Kate go on the raid?" Broomie asked.

Maggie shook her base. "No. From what Espresso heard, a Captain Fowler from Narcotics was in charge. He and Beckett don't get along because he nearly got her killed when he sent her into Vulcan Simmons' operation with bad information. Esposito said that even if Rick and Kate are fighting right now, if Fowler ever got close to Rick, Rick would probably punch him out. He thought Rick could do it in front of any cop from this precinct and no one would admit they saw a thing. They are trying to bring in the guy whose prints they did find, and if they do, Esposito said he and Ryan would ask Kate to do the questioning."

"Because she's so good at it?" Broomie wondered.

"Probably more because she'd enjoy it," Broom speculated.

"Payback time," Mop added.

* * *

"What a show!" Chair enthused to the inhabitants of the cart Boomer had shoved in the corner of Interrogation. "Kate was really having a good time! That drug dealer, Percy Alquist, was sweating. She told him that since he'd been busted for selling drugs twice before and his prints were found near a lot of heroin, he'd be going away forever unless he told them everything he knew about the operation. He just spilled it all, delivery schedules, best customers. But he said he only knew the other guy Cory Bray had drawn as Mister Jones. That name seemed familiar to Kate. Percy said Jones was suspicious that Dyson might have figured out what was going on at Java Hut. He wasn't sure, but he said he wouldn't have been surprised if Jones killed Dyson. After that he told her that, Kate said she was going to call the D.A. and left."

Mop swayed on his tendrils. "If she gets to the loft tonight, I bet she and Rick will have a lot to talk about, and that may lead to better things."

Broom flicked his loop reprovingly. "Hopefully those better things will include solving the case."

Mop flicked drops of water off his tendrils as he was returned from the Ladies' Room.

"You look pleased," Maggie observed.

"A broken faucet sprayed water everywhere, but it gave me a chance to talk to Towel Dispenser and he had a long talk with Hairbrush while Kate was in there touching up her make-up this morning." Mop twirled a tendril happily. "Kate was at the loft last night, but she and Rick didn't spend much time sleeping."

"Oh no," Broom moaned.

Mop gleefully ignored him and went on. "She told Rick about the drugs found at Java Hut and about everything she got out of Percy Alquist. Then she started talking about Mr. Jones. Hairbrush said she sounded a little shaky when she did that, like she was still really scared by what happened when she met him.

"Rick decided to cheer her up with some stuff he found in his research. He was looking at what kind of coffee Java Hut imported and where it came from. Hairbrush couldn't understand everything he said about quality and blends. But what Hairbrush got was that Rick expected a place that sells expensive coffee to get it from places like Columbia and Africa that grow really good coffee beans. Instead he found a lot of it came in through Mexico. Mexican coffee isn't supposed to be as good. He thought since a lot of drugs come into the country through Mexico, Java Hut might be doing more than just laundering money, they might be bringing drugs into the country with coffee shipments. Kate got really excited at that. She said what she called a chemical signature CSU gave her for heroin Vulcan Simmons sold, showed little bits of oil from coffee. The CSU tech told her that made it different from other heroin, and Rick had just given her the reason. She thought with Simmons and Bracken gone, but Mr. Jones still around, at least part of the drug the operation had stayed together for LokSat. And since Mr. Jones had spoken good Russian to her, he might be a spy, like LokSat, and not just selling drugs. She and Rick decided to go over information on Java Hut with what she called a fine toothed comb. Hairbrush wasn't sure what Kate meant by that, since she'd known a couple of fine combs, and they were only good for doing hair, but it all seemed to make sense to Rick.

"Hairbrush told Towel Dispenser that Rick and Kate sounded closer and closer to each other as they talked about the case and when they finally figured out what they would do next, it sounded like they started kissing. Kate had brushed out her hair when she came to the loft and left Hairbrush on the dresser, so she could hear everything they said in Rick's office and then see everything in the bedroom. So after Hairbrush heard the kissing in the office for a while, Rick carried Kate into the bedroom. She was unbuttoning his shirt as they went. Then he put her on the bed and got on top of her and they kissed some more on the lips before he unbuttoned her shirt and started kissing her neck. Then he opened that thing she wears on her bumps and kissed that place that shows where she was shot. After that she pulled off his shirt and started pulling at his belt while he lifted her skirt. Hairbrush said there was nothing under it and that really got Rick going. He kissed her down there too and she started breathing really hard and flopping back and forth on the bed, holding onto his head with her fingers in his hair."

Broom slipped as far into Dustpan as he could to avoid Mop's joyous narrative, but Mop continued. "Finally she was moaning a lot and Rick used his handle thing, which had gotten really big and stiff. He was moving up and down on top of her and she was grabbing those big round things above the back of his legs. Hairbrush thought that just made him move faster and Kate was coming up off the bed to meet him until they finally yelled together. After that, he he rolled her on top of him and they both just breathed. Then he used a little box he had on the table near the bed to turn off the lights and Hairbrush couldn't see anymore. But she said she thought she heard them together again two more times during the night. Then in the morning they were both tired but didn't seem to care."

Broom lifted a wary bristle. "Are you done?"

"For now," Mop replied satisfied. "I'll just wait and see if Rick sneaks in to see Kate today."

Broom's wires clanged against the metal of Dustpan. "Master Cleaner help me through this day!"


	6. Chapter 6

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 6

"Who's Agent Danberg?" Maggie asked when Kate left the closet after finishing a call on her cell.

Broom ruffled his bristles in thought. "He was here a few years ago when Rick and Kate were working a case with the CIA. They weren't together then, at least not Mop's kind of together, but no one else was supposed to know exactly what they were working on. I remember Esposito was really mad about that. He didn't think Rick should know about anything he didn't. But anyway, Rick and Kate talked in here because they were afraid Ryan and Esposito would hear them. They talked about Danberg saving both their lives when a very bad lady named Sophia, from the CIA, tried to kill them and ruin the country. That was really hard on Rick, because he and Sophia had been together Mop's way. Rick wrote about her the way he writes about Kate. Even then, Kate didn't like that. From what Kate just said, it sounded to me like since Kate thinks Jones may be some kind of a spy. She was trying to get Agent Danberg to help her figure out who Mr. Jones is. She said she was sending him the sketch and some unidentified fingerprints."

"I couldn't hear very much since Kate didn't have the thing that makes a phone loud, on, but it sounded like Agent Danberg wanted to help her. But why would he want to find a rotten apple?" Maggie puzzled. "Isn't that something that Boomer would take away with the trash?"

"Humans use that to mean a bad person with a bunch of good ones," Broom explained. "I don't know why. But I can understand why Agent Danberg would want to get rid of one, since Sophia was like that and caused so much trouble."

* * *

"Since Kate was in here, it's been a pretty quiet day, hasn't it?" Broomie offered, leaning his handle against Maggie's grip.

"Ooh, not anymore!" Mop interjected. "You hear the noise out there in the bullpen? It sounds like they've got another dead body."

"For once you're right," Broom agreed. "By the time Boomer takes us around tonight, Board should be able to tell us something about it."

* * *

"So what did Board tell you?" Mop asked when Boomer put him back on the cart after cleaning the floors in the rest rooms.

"You won't believe it!" Broomie exclaimed. "The new dead body is Mr. Jones. But there's a new mystery. He wasn't shot or stabbed. He wasn't hit with anything. Doctor Lanie can't figure out what killed him."

Ryan and Esposito are having CSU check his DNA against what was found on Dyson's body," Broom added. "Board said they were hoping they could at least solve one murder. They said his prints matched some from Java Hut, but that's not enough to tie him to the murder. He had no phone or ID on him. Ryan thought the killer probably took them. The unis turned up someone on a canvass who had seen him in a market that sells a lot of Russian stuff. Ryan and Esposito are going to check on that tomorrow. Board said Kate spent a lot of time staring at a photo of Jones and she told Ryan and Esposito that she was going to try to contact some of her own sources. Then she left early."

"I wonder if she's going to see Rick?" Maggie mused.

Mop swished his tendrils. "I can only hope."

* * *

"So what did Espresso say?" Mop demanded, when a crumb-laden Maggie was returned from the break room.

Maggie settled uncomfortably on her overfull cloth. "He said Kate hadn't put her purse away yet when she came in to make her coffee, so he got a chance to talk to Hairbrush. She was with Kate yesterday after Kate left the precinct. Kate didn't go to the loft, she went to Rick's office. Agent Danberg met her there. They were talking about Russians. Castle asked him about someone named Ilya Golovkin. Hairbrush said it sounded like Goluvkin was dead. Agent Danberg had heard of Goluvkin. He said Goluvkin killed a lot of people, and that he sometimes worked for a Russian handler. Rick was wondering if there might be any way Goluvkin had been connected to Jones. Agent Danberg said there were a lot of Russians and it wasn't likely, but he asked Kate to send him the analysis of Jones' DNA and he thought together with Jones' fingerprints he'd be able to check it out. Then he left."

"So Rick and Kate were alone in his office after that?" Mop inquired hopefully.

"Uh huh," Maggie confirmed. "Rick and Kate were talking a little about when Rick was missing and Goluvkin tried to kill him. Kate was trying to make him feel better. Hairbrush thought they might have kissed a little bit. Then Rick said he would really love to be able to take her to dinner somewhere, but since they weren't supposed to be seen doing that kind of thing together, he'd order in. He called someone to get some things called moo shu pork, spring rolls, and a mixed vegetable platter. Then Kate stayed in his hidden room when the food came. They ate in there too. They even had some wine Rick kept in the office. Then Rick asked Kate if she wanted to catch a nap together on the couch."

Mop spun his handle. "Okay, this is the good part!"

"I don't think it is for you," Maggie told him. "Hairbrush told Espresso that she didn't hear anything after that except a few breathing noises. She thought they slept. Then Kate got up and went to the place she's staying when she doesn't sneak into the loft, and Rick stayed at the office. Hairbrush said she thinks she heard Kate kiss him goodbye, but she wasn't sure because the sound was very soft."

"So did Espresso hear anything else about the case? Were Ryan and Esposito in the break room this morning?" Broom inquired.

"Espresso said they were," Maggie replied. "That's where all my crumbs came from. Esposito brought in a big box of pastries. and all the other cops came in to grab one. They made a real mess. I couldn't get everything up. Boomer's going to have more work to do tonight. He'll probably need Vacuum. Espresso told me most of the cops were talking about whether Kate would let them have a Christmas party this year and what they would do if she did. Esposito wanted to have a karaoke machine. The other cops weren't sure they liked that idea. But they were also talking about the case. Ryan and Esposito checked out the market where Jones was seen. That's where they got the pastries. They couldn't get much information out of anyone there because the clerks spoke mostly Russian. Actually Esposito was wondering if they were pretending they didn't speak English so they wouldn't have to talk to him and Ryan, but said he'd ask Kate to go back there with them because she speaks Russian. Then the clerks would have no excuse not to talk. Ryan suggested that if Kate was too busy to go out in the field, they could take a uni named Karina Gordeeva who speaks Russian too. Esposito really liked that idea. He said he'd seen Karina sparing and she took down another cop, a guy cop twice her size. He told Ryan he thought that was really hot. He wanted to spar with her himself. Ryan told him he couldn't understand his taste in women and they left.

"Mmm," Mop considered, "If sparring's that exciting to men, I wonder if anyone will ever use me to clean up the gym."

"Dream about it," Broom advised. "but if people are sparring, Boomer would probably have to soak you all night to get the blood and sweat out of your tendrils."

Mop's tendrils trembled. "On second thought, maybe I'm better off here."


	7. Chapter 7

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 7

"What were you and Vacuum talking about when Boomer was cleaning up the break room last night?" Broom asked Broomie.

"The Jones murder," Broomie replied. "They're talking about it a lot downstairs and Vacuum hears what they're saying when he cleans up after all the people who come in and make a mess while they're waiting for the cops to help them. Part of it was about Officer Gordeeva going with Esposito and Ryan to the Russian market. They said Esposito tried to hit on Gordeeva. Vacuum said that meant he asked her out, not that he actually tried to hit her. But I guess she wanted no part of going out with him. Then when he tried to convince her, she told him her girlfriend wouldn't like it. The cops thought that was really funny. Vacuum said everyone downstairs knew that Gordeeva didn't go out with men, but Esposito didn't have a clue. They thought a detective should have better gaydar - whatever that means. Esposito was embarrassed by the whole thing. They thought that was even funnier."

Broom scratched impatiently. "Did you hear anything about the actual case?"

"The clerks at the market did confirm that Jones was a customer there. But they said he always paid cash, so they didn't have any information about him. Gordeeva wasn't sure she believed them. She thought they were holding something back, but she didn't know what. The cops downstairs also thought it was really strange that Doctor Lanie still hasn't figured out what killed Jones."

"Uh huh, I heard about that from Wastebasket," Broom responded. "I was in Kate's office for a little while this morning. There were some more of those little pieces of paper Rick made fall everywhere for their anniversary, under her bookcase. She used me to get them and she put them in an envelope in a drawer of her desk. Wastebasket said she was on the phone to Lanie. Lanie told her Jones' heart had stopped, but there was no reason it should have, because he was healthy. She thought it was some kind of poison but that tox screens had come back clean. She said she was going to call in Clark Murray for a consult. Then Kate wondered if she could ask Dr. Lanie for a favor. She wanted a sample of Jones' blood but she didn't want Lanie to ask what Kate was going to do with it. Dr. Lanie agreed and told Kate she could come to the morgue and get it. Wastebasket said Kate was gone for a little while after that."

"Why would she want Jones' blood?" Broomie wondered.

"I bet she wants to give it to Agent Danberg," Mop put in. "She's given him everything else from Jones. Ooh, maybe she'll meet him at Rick's office again and she and Rick will do more than sleep."

"No matter what we talk about, you get to that again," Broom groused.

* * *

"It's been two days since we've seen Rick and Kate together or heard anything about their fun," Mop complained bitterly.

"What's actually important," Broom returned, "is it's been two days since we learned anything new about the Jones case. All we know is that his DNA was found on Dyson, so Jones probably killed him. But we still don't know what killed Jones or how any of the evidence fits together."

"Espresso said Ryan and Esposito have been in a really bad mood too," Maggie added. "They really want a break in the case." Maggie listened for a moment. "Well maybe they'll get one. Isn't that the sound of Kate's shoes with the big sticks coming this way?"

"Ooh it is," Mop confirmed. "But Rick isn't here," he added, disappointed. "She must just want to make a call in private."

"Did any of you understand any of that?" Maggie asked baffled, after Kate left the closet.

"Not much," Broom admitted. "I know what mushrooms are. They're little brown mushy things. I've had to clean them up after they've fallen off pizza. But Yunnan Province, toxic amino acids, those are new even to me. And Danberg said the mushrooms he was talking about were white. Dr. Lanie sounded surprised when Kate called her, after Kate talked to Agent Danberg. She also sounded a little mad that Kate wouldn't tell her where she got the idea to look for anything like what Kate asked her to check for. Dr. Lanie said even Dr. Murray hadn't come up with anything. I understood more about Danberg saying there might be some connection between Jones and Goluvkin and that he was still looking into it. Kate asked him to please continue looking."

"She probably asked him that because it's so important to Rick," Maggie offered. "Well at least Dr. Lanie agreed to do what Kate asked her to do. If she finds anything, it will probably go up on Board. He'll hear Ryan and Esposito and maybe Kate talking about it. Then maybe he can explain it to us."

"He probably can," Broom agreed. "He sees and hears more about cases than any of us do. He's picked up a lot."

Mop fluttered his tendrils. "Yeah, but he's only seen Rick and Kate kiss a couple of times. They've done most of their best stuff in our closet. He's missed out on a lot of fun."

"Says you," Broom retorted.

* * *

"So did Board tell you anything?" Mop asked, distastefully flicking off drops of the disinfectant Boomer had used on the Men's Room floor, as Boomer returned him and Bucket to the cart.

"Oh he explained what Kate was talking to Dr. Lanie and Agent Danberg about," Maggie replied enthusiastically. "There are some mushrooms in another country called China. They're white and they grow in a place called the Yunnan Province. For years there was a mystery called the Yunnan Sudden Death Syndrome. The doctors and scientists couldn't figure out what caused it. But then the scientists found three of those toxic amino acids Kate mentioned, in the mushrooms. They cause cardiac arrest. Board said that means they make humans' hearts stop. After Kate asked Lanie to look for those amino acids, she found them in Jones' blood. Now Ryan and Esposito just have to figure out how they got there. Kate suggested to them that they look harder at the Russian market. If Jones bought food there, they would have had a chance to poison him. Board said Esposito was really grumpy about that idea. Ryan teased Esposito about being embarrassed about trying to hit on Gordeeva. Then Kate told Ryan and Esposito that if they needed to go back there, she would go with them, but she told them to trace down the ownership of the market first and tell her when they had something."

Broom rustled his bristles thoughtfully. "She might think the market is owned by Russian spies and that they killed Jones."

Mop twirled a tendril. "If she does, she'll want to tell Rick about it."

"Yeah," Broom agreed grudgingly. "She probably will. But that doesn't mean you'll get any fun out of it."

Mop drew himself up on his still damp tendrils. "We'll just have to see, won't we?"


	8. Chapter 8

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 8

"Espresso said Esposito was in a good mood this morning," Mop reported, his tendrils damp but warm from misdirected steam. "Kate told him he and Ryan wouldn't have to go back to the Russian market. She said she'd take care of it."

"How's she going to do that?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know," Mop replied. "Kate didn't have her purse with her in the break room this morning, so Espresso couldn't talk to Hairbrush. I'm hoping she's cooked something up with Rick."

"You might be right," Broomie noted. "Those are his footsteps on the back stairs now and the clicks coming this way are definitely Kate's.

* * *

Mop swirled his tendrils around his head and spun his handle. "That was some good morning kiss! They acted like they hadn't seen each other in months."

"I think they just needed to reassure each other," Maggie mused. "What they said they are going to do, sounded dangerous."

"It sounded like they didn't think they had much choice," Broom responded. "Ryan and Esposito asked Vikram to help them get information on the Russian market. All he came up with for them was that the market leases the building from a private corporation with untraceable offshore ownership and that it uses an import company to bring in its goods, also with untraceable ownership. That's nothing. Kate is sure she can't trust Vikram now. Rick also investigated the import company and found that it's the same one that brings in the coffee the drug shipments are hidden in. He thinks it's connected to LokSat and maybe also to the people who tried to kill him while he was missing. He and Kate are going undercover together. Rick will be what he is, a rich American, and Kate will pose as his new Russian bride. That will give Kate a chance to talk to the clerks at the market and see if they really know anything. She can also find out if they sell anything it would be easy to hide Chinese mushrooms in."

Maggie's cloth trembled. "Ooh, I hope they don't eat anything from there."

"Oh, they won't," Broom assured her. "But Kate's going to get foods to be analyzed so Dr. Lanie can compare them to Jones' stomach contents. From what I've seen up on Board, that means what he ate before he died. If she can find a match, there will be pretty good evidence that the poison came from the market. Kate said it would be enough to get a warrant to take everyone there in for questioning and have Ryan, Esposito, and CSU, tear the place apart."

* * *

"So what did Espresso say?" Broom asked Maggie when she returned from the break room the next day, her cloth aromatic with cinnamon sugar doughnut droppings.

"He said that Kate brought her purse into the break room this morning. He talked to Hairbrush and she told him she'd talked to Lucy," Maggie related. "Lucy told Hairbrush that Rick and Kate started their undercover mission at the Russian market yesterday. Then Kate came to the loft last night."

Mop swayed on twirling tendrils. "What happened?"

"Lucy told Hairbrush that Rick has been doing a lot of research on Russian oligarchs, whatever those are. Then when Kate went to the loft, Hairbrush said Rick told Kate about it. Hairbrush thought he sounded scared. Lucy thought so too. Rick thinks LokSat is working with the Russians, like Sophia Turner did. When their plan to take the United States down economically didn't work, they turned to something easier, drugs.

"Kate said she believed that Bracken was involved with the drug operation just to gain power for himself. He wanted to be president. She thought he had no idea what LokSat was really up to. She wondered if Bracken finally figured it out and that's why LokSat had him killed. Then when it looked like Jones might have given himself away by murdering Dyson, even though it was disguised to look like it was about coffee, LokSat had Jones taken out too. Rick agreed. He thought that LokSat imagined no New York M.E. would figure out how Jones really died, and if Kate hadn't given a blood sample to Agent Danberg, LokSat would have been right.

"Hairbrush couldn't see, but Lucy told her that Rick and Kate sat for a long time just holding on to each other. Then they went to bed quietly. Hairbrush still couldn't see anything, because Kate left her in her purse on a chair in the bedroom, but she thought she heard Kate get up early and tell Rick she had to leave before anyone saw her. They made plans to meet at his office this afternoon and go back to the market so Kate can buy more stuff. She's going to pretend she doesn't know how to cook very well and ask a clerk who puts together and sells fresh food, how it's made. Then she'll ask for a lot of different things so she can try them out on Rick. He's supposed to act very happy about that and talk about the way to a man's heart being through his stomach. Then as soon as they get the food, Rick will go to his office to do some more research and Kate will drop the food at the lab."

"That's it?" Mop exclaimed in disappointment. "They talked about the case and slept again? If those two don't have any fun, how am I supposed to?"

"Mop, I'm sorry if they didn't do anything to warm you up, but aren't you worried?" Maggie wondered anxiously. "If LokSat used the Russian market to kill Jones, then someone there might recognize Kate and Rick. All their pretending about being apart could be for nothing. LokSat could try to kill them too."

Mop's tendrils flopped to the ground. "I didn't think of that. I could lose my whole show."

Broom banged his wires against Dustpan. "Don't you ever think of anyone but yourself? This isn't about you. It's about Rick and Kate staying safe, because people love them and care about them. That's why everyone here is so upset about the separation. Get a clue, stringhead."

"I'm going to ask Master Cleaner to protect them," Maggie declared. "Wait a minute, who's coming now?"

* * *

Broom ruffled his bristles in disgust. "So now our closet is Vikram's hideout. He called that Rita woman who Rick thinks lied to Kate. Vikram obviously lied to Ryan and Esposito about not finding anything and let them pass the lie on to Kate. He found out all about the Russian market's connection to Russian oligarchs. He told Rita he's getting closer to LokSat because of the Jones' murder. It sounded like Vikram and Rita wanted Kate to find out information so they could use it themselves, but they were afraid if she learned too much, she'd bring Rick into it. With his past experience with the CIA, he'd help her figure out more than Rita wants her to know. Sounds like Rick's and Kate's act is still working, at least with Vikram. He doesn't know they're together."

"Vikram and Rita didn't even mention Agent Danberg," Broomie noted. "Kate and Rick seem to be keeping him secret too."

"Well I just hope they can keep that up," Broom wished fervently. "Dealing with spies, drug dealers, and murderers, they need a friend."

Maggie's grip trembled as she leaned against Broomie. "When Vikram came in, he kept me from making my prayer to Master Cleaner. I'm going to do that now."

"Maggie," Broom encouraged, "T think that's a good idea."


	9. Chapter 9

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 9

Mop's tendrils dripped with brown liquid. "Kate is really upset. She spilled her coffee in her office and while she was using me to get it up she was muttering and slamming things."

Why?" Maggie asked.

"Wastebasket told me that from what he was able to figure out, Dr. Lanie called Kate with the results of the analysis of the food from the Russian Market. It showed that one of their meat pies was in Jones' stomach. Kate got the warrant she wanted, but the minute her people took everyone in and completed their search, the Feds swooped in. They took all the evidence and took over questioning the suspects. Kate just kept saying 'square one,' over and over while she was cleaning." Mop hunkered on his wet head. "The only thing good about it is Kate will probably call Rick. What else can she do?"

"She could call Agent Danberg," Broom suggested.

"I suppose she could," Mop agreed slowly, before swirling a tendril. "maybe she'll call both of them."

"Sounds like she might have other things to worry about," Broom noted. "You hear all the phones ringing out there? There are usually two times when that happens: when there's a sniper or when there's a mass shooting."

Maggie fell against Broomie. "Oh Master Cleaner!"

* * *

"So what happened?" Maggie asked, her cloth trembling, as Mop was returned from the Men's Room.

Mop shook out his damp tendrils. "They just needed me in there because the floor was wet. A lot of cops have been washing up. But Towel Dispenser told me that some of the cops were throwing up too. As near as he could understand from what they were talking about to each other, some guy opened fire on the skaters at a place called Rockefeller Center. He killed a lot of people including children. The cops in there were cursing about it being too easy to get automatic weapons. From what Dispenser heard, the shooter killed the victims very fast and then ran off before the police could get there to catch him."

"Did they think he was a terrorist?" Broom questioned, his straws quivering.

"Dispenser didn't say anything about that," Mop replied. "Neither did the cops who were in the Men's Room when I was cleaning up. They were just talking about dead children."

* * *

"Boomer wasn't whistling tonight," Maggie observed sadly, when the occupants of the cart had been returned to the closet.

"I don't see how he could, considering what was going on out there," Broom responded. "Board needed two brothers to hold all the pictures of the victims. Board said they got a picture of the killer from a security camera. Did you see it? I've never seen a human with that look in his eyes before. It was scary. Board said they still don't know who he is."

"Did you hear what Wastebasket said when Boomer dumped him?" Maggie wondered. "He told me that Rick came right into Kate's office. They didn't pretend to argue or anything. Rick said he understood how upset Kate must be because she used to go skating at Rockefeller Center with her mother. He told Kate he used to take Alexis there too. Then he just asked what he could do to help."

"Right," Broomie continued. "Board said Kate took Rick over to see the pictures and the time line. She asked him if he could think of anything the cops and the FBI didn't. He just stared for a while. Then he took pictures of the boards with his phone and told her he'd work on it. Board said Rick looked around to make sure none of the other cops were watching and then he squeezed Kate's hand and said he was going to his office to hug Alexis. Then Kate whispered she'd try to talk to him later, but unless they got a break in the case, she couldn't leave the precinct. Then he whispered back that he understood, and left."

* * *

"Espresso thinks Kate stayed in her office last night," Maggie related. "She went into the break room early this morning to make a triple espresso and she was wearing the same clothes she wore yesterday. He thinks Ryan and Esposito and some of the other cops stayed too. They were all making strong coffee. A volunteer brought in a big box of muffins for them. That's why I was cleaning up crumbs."

"Did you hear anything new about the shootings?" Broom queried.

Maggie swayed on her base. "Nothing good. The cops and the FBI still have no idea who the shooter is. From what I was able to hear, they got nothing from facial recognition. They put the photo on all the news stations and out on the internet. That got them more calls and emails than they could handle. That's what the cops who stayed were doing all night, following up on calls and emails. But so far they haven't received anything that's led them anywhere. Master Cleaner help them!"

"It sounds different out there," Broomie noticed. "Broom, do you think something's happened?"

"Yeah, the noise is moving away from us, like the cops are moving to the boards," Broom replied. "I guess when someone needs us to clean up something, we'll find out."

* * *

Mop fluttered his tendrils as Broom, Broomie, and Maggie were returned to the closet. "What happened?"

"Espresso said someone kicked the vending machine," Maggie explained, "really hard. Everything came out and the chips and cookies broke all over the floor. It was a real mess."

"But it gave Espresso time to tell us what's been going on," Broom added. "Someone saw the picture of the shooter on their computer and recognized him as their next door neighbor, Thor Larsen. The story the cops got was that Larsen had a little girl named Anna, who was a skater. She was really good. Everyone who knew her thought she'd go to something called the Olympics. But there was an accident. Another skater fell on the ice and slid into her. The blade of the other skater's skate slashed Anna's throat and she died before anyone could do anything. The neighbor thought Thor was handling Anna's death all right, until he saw Thor's picture. Then he called the tip line. The cops think Thor must have gone crazy with grief. Espresso told us a couple them said they could understand how that could happen. But they still have to catch him. They searched his apartment for clues to where he might have gone and they're watching it in case he returns, but they don't think he'll go back there. They've done what they usually do with killers. They tagged his credit cards and his bank accounts. The unis and detectives are talking to everyone they can find one who might know where he went, but so far there's no sign of him."

"Do you think Rick could help track him down?" Maggie wondered. "He's found things the cops couldn't find before."

Broom rattled his bristles thoughtfully. "I don't know, but I'm sure he'll try."


	10. Chapter 10

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 10

Broomie quivered as he touched his handle to Maggie's grip. "You were in the break room a long time. I was getting worried."

"I was okay," Maggie assured him. "Officer Harrison grabbed me to clean up those flakes that come off croissants and then she got called away and just left me in the corner. No one thought to put me away until L.T. saw me. I missed you, but I also found out what happened with Thor Larsen. Ryan and Esposito came in a little while ago and they were talking all about it."

"Well out with it!" Broom interrupted from his pan.

"Rick was actually the one who helped the cops find him. Thor didn't have any family in the city for the cops to talk to. Since his wife, Freya died, he'd been taking care of Anna by himself. But they said Rick traced his family tree and found out about Freya's grandparents. That sounded strange to me. I don't know what Rick could get from a tree, but whatever it was, it worked. Freya's grandparents owned a little cabin by a lake a couple of hours drive from the city. When they died, they left it to Freya's parents and when they died, they left it to Anna who'd loved it because she could skate when the lake froze in the winter. The cops hadn't found it because it wasn't in Larsen's name, but Rick did. He told Kate about the cabin and she went there with Ryan, Esposito, and someone from the FBI. Kate's group worked with the local cops. They surrounded the cabin and went in but Larsen didn't even try to fight or get away. He was just sitting there staring out the window at the lake. When they brought Larsen back to the city, they booked him, but then they sent him to a place called Bellevue. Ryan called him unresponsive, whatever that means. Ryan and Esposito weren't happy the way they usually are when they catch someone and they said Kate was just sitting in her office. I bet she really needs Rick right now."

Mop swayed on his head. "Maybe she'll go to the loft tonight."

"She'll probably want to tell him about everything that happened," Maggie responded.

Mop twined his tendrils in anticipation. "I hope they'll do a lot more than talk, and that she brushes her hair."

* * *

Mop's tendrils fluttered in satisfaction."Thank Master Cleaner Kate took her purse into the Ladies Room this morning. Someone forgot and used the sink that leaks. Towel Dispenser got the whole story of what happened in the loft last night and he told it to me while I sopped up the mess."

Broom scraped his wires against Dustpan. "That roller boy is as bad as you are, and he can't make excuses about being wet."

"He knows the good stuff when he hears it," Mop retorted. "Anyway Lucy told Hairbrush that Kate sneaked in the back door of the loft last night. It was late, but Rick hadn't felt like making anything to eat, so Kate started cooking."

"That's unusual isn't it?" Maggie asked.

"Rick is usually the cook, but I heard that before Kate moved out they did it together sometimes," Mop replied. "Kate made dinner and Rick poured some wine and they ate together. She told him him about what happened at the cabin and sending Larsen to Bellevue. Then they started talking about losing all the witnesses and evidence in the Jones murder to the Feds. Rick thought Vikram found out about the warrant and the raid and tipped someone off in the CIA, or contacted Rita. Kate said she thought he was probably right but she didn't know what to do about it.

"Rick told her he was going to work more on the Russian angle. He didn't know how, maybe it was in the memories he lost, but he thought everything Kate had been pulled into, tied together somehow with what had happened to him while he was missing and he was going to try to find out how. Then according to what Lucy told Hairbrush, Kate got up and rubbed his shoulders a little and warned him not to fall into a rabbit hole like she had. He told her that if he did, he was counting on her to pull him out, just like he did for her.

"Rick took her hand after that and they walked to the bedroom together. Kate brushed her hair a little before she put on the kind of clothes she sleeps in, so she left Hairbrush out. She and Rick got into bed together and they just lay there for a while. Kate had her head on Rick's chest and he had his fingers in her hair. They were talking more about LokSat and wishing that they didn't have to pretend to be apart anymore. Then they started kissing. Hairbrush told Dispenser that they got together very slowly. She wasn't sure they were going to do anything but kiss a little bit and go to sleep, but then Rick pulled Kate's clothes away and rolled Kate underneath him. Kate pulled Rick's shirt over his head and they kissed some more and faster. Then they rolled again. Kate got on top of Rick and he played with her bumps and she played with his handle. They both started breathing really hard and Kate was on Rick's handle, but he kept playing with her bumps. They started moving really fast up and down after that until Kate went limp and fell on top of Rick. He held her there for a long time before she moved to lie next him with her head on his shoulder.

"Kate stayed through the night. She didn't leave while it was dark like she usually did. There was a little bit of light coming in the window when she got up and Rick brought her coffee while she got ready to go. They kissed again before she left and Hairbrush thought Kate sounded a little like she does when she cries."

Maggie swayed against Broomie. "Kate and Rick really miss each other. It's just not fair that they have to be apart like that. I'd be very sad if Broomie and I were in different closets."

Broomie stuck his handle in her grip. "I'd be very sad too."

"I'm beginning to think I wouldn't," Broom interjected.

Mop ignored him. "Rick and Kate will work it out, they'll find a way to live together again. But until then, they can always come in here to have fun and that's terrific. Even more terrific if they keep coming in after they work it out. Seeing everything is better than having to hear all about it. Who knows what details Lucy, Hairbrush, and Dispenser miss?"

Broom rustled in resignation. "It certainly didn't sound to me like they missed a thing. Thank Master Cleaner that none of your friends know how to take pictures or video. I'd never get any peace again."

"Ooh!" Mop exclaimed, "a camera, a phone, or a computer, those are the friends I really need. Then I could see everything first hand. I'll have to work on that."

Broom slid to the bottom of Dustpan. "Thank Master Cleaner that those kinds of friends don't like water. I hope you stay wet."


	11. Chapter 11

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 11

"Oh Master Cleaner!" Mop exclaimed. "I hate it when that Vikram guy is in here. And what he talked about on his phone was terrible."

"It really was," Maggie agreed. "It sounds like Rick and Kate's act isn't working too well on him anymore. He was telling Rita that he thought they were getting too close to each other again and he needs to do something to push them apart. I wish we had some way of warning them. Sometimes I wish they could hear us."

Broom scratched for attention. "None of the humans can hear us or any of our cleaning friends, but much as I hate to bring up the connection, Rick can hear Lucy when she wants him to. If one of us can talk to Hairbrush, or maybe have Espresso, Towel Dispenser, or Wastebasket talk to her, then she can tell Lucy to warn Rick and Kate."

"I'd be the last one to object to that plan," Mop put in. "I want Rick and Kate together more than anyone, but how would Lucy explain to Rick how she knows? The humans don't know about any of us."

Broom scraped against Dustpan while he thought. "Rick knows Lucy hears what goes on in the loft. Vikram's called Kate there sometimes. I heard the cops use computers to figure out when someone is lying. She can tell him she figured it out from what Vikram said. She doesn't have to say anything about him saying it in front of us."

Mop twirled his tendrils in admiration. "Broom, I didn't think you had it in you. So is the plan that tonight when Boomer takes us around, we talk to anyone we can and ask them to pass on the message to Hairbrush for Lucy?"

The other occupants of the closet swayed and waved their agreement.

* * *

"So what did Espresso tell you?" Broom inquired anxiously as Mop was returned from sopping up an overshoot of steam.

Mop settled on his still warm tendrils. "Espresso shot off a lot of steam to make sure I was brought into the break room. No one was eating anything with many crumbs this morning, so they didn't need you guys, and he was getting nervous. Hairbrush was in Kate's purse while she was in there having coffee with Ryan and Esposito. She told him she talked to Lucy and Lucy was able to talk to to Rick and Kate. Neither one of them was surprised when Lucy warned them about Vikram because they already think he's a liar and going behind their backs. They just don't know to who. Lucy couldn't tell them it was Rita because she couldn't explain how she knew, but they suspected it anyway. Rick said that since Rita knew about Jackson Hunt, she might have known about what happened in Paris when Alexis was kidnapped. He was wondering if the Russians from Volkov's old organization might be connected to Goluvkin and LokSat somehow. Rick told Kate he was going to get in touch with some of his writer buddies who were more strongly into spy stuff and see if they knew anything about Volkov's organization and whether any of it was still in place. I don't know what he was talking about, but he was wishing a guy named Tom Clancy was still around. He said he wanted to call someone name John Le Carré in Cornwall, but it was the middle of the night there, so he'd have to wait a few hours.

"Kate stayed with Rick. They slept for a while and then woke up together. Rick called Le Carré and asked him if he had heard anything about a spy who had escaped from a prison in Chechnya. Le Carré was little surprised, since that's not quite what Rick has been writing about lately, but he said he had, and he'd send Rick some links to research it. Then they promised they'd have dinner together next time Rick is in what he called the 'UK.' Rick stayed up after that to start his research. Kate slept for a few more hours and got up again. She and Rick had coffee and she said she'd call him later so they could figure out something to stage a fight about to let Vikram think they were still on the outs. Then he'll come by the precinct and they can do it."

* * *

Broomie scratched his bristles against the floor. "I don't understand. What is a battle of the hair? Humans lose hair all the time. We sweep enough of it up and Hairbrush gets full of it. What's the big deal about this case and why would Kate and Rick want to plan a fight about it?"

"The best I could understand, it has to do with what the humans watch on those screens they call TV," Broom offered. "You haven't been around here long enough to see it, but they can get very involved with that stuff. There were some cops who used to be in the break room every day just to watch a show called _As Your Life Turns_. They don't do it anymore because they put it on things called DVR's, but humans can get very caught up in stories, even if they're just made up. From what Kate and Rick were talking about when she brought her phone in here, there are two actresses on two different shows who had really long hair. There seemed to be some kind of a contest between them or something. One of them, Kitty Marlowe, was drugged by someone and her hair was cut off. The people who run her show are accusing the people who run the other show of being behind it. What happened to Kitty is assault and the police have to investigate. Kitty also had her hair insured. Her insurance company wants to go after whoever did it and sue them, whatever that means, for the money the insurance company will have to pay Kitty. Kate suggested that since Rick knows people from _As Your Life Turns_ because his first wife Meredith was on it for a while, that he volunteer to investigate. She said his consultant Hayley could help because she works for insurance companies. Then Kate and Rick can have a big fight about him interfering in a police investigation. He's going to come to the precinct after he talks to the people at _As your Life Turns_ , Kitty, and Hayley. Kate wants the fight to be loud and in the break room with the doors open so everyone in the bullpen can hear it and Vikram can hear it from Tech too."

"If they're going to be that loud, we'll probably hear it, though even if we don't, Espresso will tell us all about it." Maggie fluttered her cloth. "I don't like this. I hate to hear them fight."

"It's going to be okay," Broomie reassured her. "It won't be real. They're just doing it because they love each other and Kate is trying to keep Rick safe and fool Vikram."

"Besides," Mop added, twining his tendrils tight around his head, "when those two fight, sometimes great things happen afterward. This could really be fun, especially since we know why they're doing it. And I like them putting one over on Vikram. He deserves it. I had to clean up another one of his soda messes yesterday."

"Of course you'd make it all about your own sticky strings," Broom commented. "But for once you're right. This could be fun."


	12. Chapter 12

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 11

"Oh wow, did you hear that?" Broomie exclaimed.

"I think they heard it downstairs," Broom opined. "Well Kate and Rick wanted to make it loud; they succeeded."

Maggie rubbed uncertainly against Broomie. "I hope they didn't mean any of that. I mean Kate accused Rick of always interfering and getting in the way. She told Rick the precinct could handle the Kitty Marlowe case just fine without any help from him. Then Rick accused Kate of always putting him down and never respecting him, when even from their first case together, he kept her from going after the wrong guy. He told her that without him, not only wouldn't she be captain, she'd be dead many times over. He said his interference included walking into a burning apartment to save her and keeping a dirty bomb from contaminating the city. And then he yelled she kicked him to the curb for no reason. Is any of that true?"

"Actually," Broom replied gently, "a lot of it is. Kate was always putting Rick down, although usually just as a tease, and he did do all those things. The other cops know it, too. He probably threw that stuff in to be more convincing. But of course we know she didn't leave him for no reason," Broom added hurriedly.

"Still, she must have hurt him a lot. Why do humans, especially humans who like each other, say and do mean things to each other?" Maggie wondered. "It makes no sense."

"You have me there," Broom admitted. "I've never figured it out. It's just the way they are. But at least time this time we do know why." Broom rustled his bristles. "That actually puts us one up on the cops in the precinct about something. But Rick and Kate did make part of their the argument about the Marlowe case. Has anyone heard anything about it?"

"I have," Broomie volunteered. "One of the guys from downstairs came up and knocked off the bag of chips Bruce had on his desk. While he was cleaning it up he told Bruce that all the actresses on _As Your Life Turns_ really hated Kitty and her hair because she used it to grab all the attention. The detectives had to interview every one of them and they still don't have a clue to who did it. Someone put the drug in Kitty's special hair growing herb drink. But it was in the refrigerator on the set and everyone had access to it. There were no fingerprints or DNA on it but Kitty's. There's no security footage. So the cops are just going to keep talking to people from _As Your Life Turns_ and hope they get lucky. They haven't found any evidence that anyone from the other show, _Life's Loving Light_ , had anything to do with it, but they're still looking into that too."

* * *

"Wastebasket said Kate called Rick three times yesterday after they did their fight thing," Broom noted as Boomer pushed them on the cart.

"Yeah," Maggie chimed in "he said she really sounded upset about some of the things Rick said. She wanted to know if he really was mad at her."

"As usual I missed what Wastebasket said, while Boomer had me soaking," Mop griped. "Was Rick really mad at Kate?"

Maggie fluttered her cloth. "Wastebasket couldn't tell. He just heard what Kate said to Rick. But she told him she'd come to the loft tonight and they'd talk more."

"I hope they do more than talk," Mop swished.

* * *

"Did Espresso talk to Hairbrush? What happened in the loft last night?" Mop demanded as Maggie was returned to the closet.

Maggie settled softly against Broomie. "I wasn't in the break room. I was in Kate's office. Esposito went in there with one of his doughnuts and she made him clean up the white stuff from the floor. It was hard to get up and it took a while. I got to talk to Hairbrush myself."

"And?" Mop prompted.

A sugary cloud rose around Maggie as her cloth fluttered uncomfortably. "She said she'd never heard Rick and Kate talk quite like that before. Hairbrush was in Kate's purse, but Kate and Rick were sitting near Lucy, so she could tell Hairbrush what happened. They were kind of quiet and they weren't touching each other. Kate asked Rick if he was still mad. He told her he wasn't feeling mad so much as he was still feeling hurt, because he was remembering all the times she'd pushed him away. He'd let her do it because he thought maybe he'd done something to deserve it. But this time was different. He said he'd been there for her no matter what she wanted to do, even if it made his own life harder or more complicated. He went on to say that when they were married she promised they would be together always. She broke that promise and then she promised there would be no more secrets and she broke that too. Then she came back to him like nothing happened and he'd tried to pretend that nothing had, but it still hurt. Some of that hurt just poured out when they had their fight for the precinct.

"Lucy wasn't surprised by what Rick said to Kate. She'd heard a lot of it from him before. But she said she'd never seen Kate respond the way she did. Neither had Hairbrush. Kate didn't try to argue with Rick. She just sat there chewing on her lip and rubbing her hands against her arms. Then finally she reached out very slowly. She just stroked his hand with her fingers and said she was sorry.

"Rick said he'd heard that before. He took her hand and told her that he wanted to believe her, that she couldn't imagine how much he wanted to believe her, but he needed something more. He wasn't even sure what it was. Then she asked if she could show him and kissed him."

"Okay, finally getting to the good part!" Mop interjected.

Maggie rattled her base against her handle. "No, I don't think so. Rick pulled away. He said sex, I guess that's what you call fun, didn't solve anything. It was just confusing when she had to leave again or when she lied to him again. He told her he was going to work on the Kitty Marlowe case and he was also going to keep looking into the Russian connections he got from Le Carré's information. He wanted them to work together the way they used to, even if they couldn't do it at the precinct, and maybe he would start to feel like things were getting back more to the way they were before she left. Then he told her he wanted to work at that moment. So they went into his office together.

"Lucy and Hairbrush didn't know what happened after that, except that Hairbrush said Kate didn't sleep at the loft. She didn't even sleep where she'd been staying. She went back to her office and slept there. Hairbrush said Kate took her to the locker room early in the morning. She guessed that Kate got a shower there, because her clothes were different and when Kate brushed her hair, it was wet. After that, Kate just went back to her office and worked until Esposito showed up with his doughnut."

Mop's tendrils splayed unhappily across the floor. "That wasn't what I expected to happen. That was no fun at all."

"No," Maggie agreed. "I don't think Rick and Kate thought it was fun either."


	13. Chapter 13

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 13

"It's about time you got here," Chair complained as the cart was wheeled into Interrogation.

"Did something interesting happen with the Kitty Marlowe case?" Broom queried.

"The case is solved," Chair declared.

"How?" Broomie asked. "Who cut Kitty's hair?"

"I need to start from the beginning," Chair insisted. "Ryan and Esposito were in here talking about how they were going to run their interview, before their suspect came in. They said Castle had called them. He and his consultant Hayley had been tracing down Kitty Marlowe's activity on social media. Ryan and Esposito didn't really think it was their business because it wasn't a homicide, but they were willing to look at the case if it would help Captain Beckett up the precinct closure rate. They also didn't like all the paparazzi hanging around the precinct trying to get something about Kitty Marlowe. Castle told them Kitty had been following stylists on Twitter who specialized in short hair. She'd also been friending some of them on Facebook. Castle also talked to the people in the hair trailer on _As Your Life Turns._ He found out that Kitty had been complaining about her hair clogging up her drain and getting all over her house. She was tired of it, but couldn't do anything because long hair was part of her contract with the show. Castle thought Kitty had cut it herself and had drugged herself as a cover. Ryan and Esposito had Lanie get the sample of blood the hospital took after Kitty went to the Emergency Room. She checked it and found that the drug levels were too low to have completely knocked Kitty out. That backed up what Castle suggested. After Ryan and Esposito finished talking, the unis brought Kitty in here, but not like she was under arrest. There were no cuffs or anything. Ryan and Esposito acted all friendly and sympathetic, a lot like the way Captain Beckett does when she's about to really nail someone. They told Kitty they just wanted to update her on the progress of the investigation. Then they told her about the alibis they'd found for the cast and crew of _As Your Life Turns_ and _Life's Loving Light._ They said none of those people could have done it. Kitty started to squirm in me after that. She was rubbing her hands against her skirt, too. Finally they sprang the blood analysis on her and told her they knew she'd cut her own hair. She started to cry and said they had to understand that her hair was ruining her life and she just couldn't stand it anymore. Esposito just smiled and told her she could make her acting more convincing by watching a few telenovelas and taking notes. Then Ryan and Esposito arrested her for filing a false police report and insurance fraud. They didn't put cuffs on her but they had L.T. and Officer Harrison take her to holding."

"Did Ryan and Esposito talk about anything besides the case?" Mop prompted. "Like about Rick and Kate?"

"Oh you mean Castle and Captain Beckett?" Chair corrected.

"Yeah, of course," Mop answered impatiently.

"Not that their private affairs are any of your business," Chair replied, "but that's never stopped you before."

"You've got that right!" Broom put in.

"Just tell me, Chair," Mop demanded.

"Well Ryan and Esposito were talking about how upset they are that Captain Beckett and Castle are fighting," Chair confided grudgingly. "They said that they don't understand why the Captain left Castle. They asked Martha and Alexis, and they don't know either. Ryan said that Lanie is the Captain's best friend and the Captain still hasn't explained it to her. Lanie, was mad about that. She thought as Kate's friend she should be the first to know. But she told Ryan that Captain Beckett told her she was better off not knowing anything about the captain's reasons. It was better that way. That just made Lanie, Ryan, and Esposito really curious about what happened. Ryan and Esposito also noticed that the break up happened at the same time Captain Beckett hired that new tech, Vikram. They were wondering if he had anything to do with it. So they decided to see what they could pick up when Vikram and Captain Beckett were talking to each other."

Mop swayed precariously on his head, almost falling off the cart. "Finally someone besides Kate and Rick is on to Vikram!"

"What do you mean?" Chair puzzled. "Are Ryan and Esposito right?"

"You bet they're right!" Mop exclaimed. "He has been trying to keep Kate and Rick apart. We've all heard him do it. He spoiled a lot of fun for me. But Rick and Kate caught on to it. They got together again. But Kate thinks if anyone finds out about it, someone will try to hurt Rick. It all has to do with some kind of spy stuff. They're still trying to figure it all out. Rick and Kate had that big fight to fool Vikram and everyone else."

"Only it didn't work out right," Maggie relayed sadly. "Rick got very sad remembering some of the things Kate did. So Vikram may have succeeded. Of course we pray to Master Cleaner he didn't."

"Well as much as I think things should be kept professional around here, I hope he didn't too," Chair confessed. "Castle is really good in here. He gets a lot of things out of suspects." Boomer finished wiping down the tables and pushed Mop back into position. "If Castle can't be here anymore, I'll really miss him," Chair called after the cart as Boomer wheeled it out.

* * *

"So what did Wastebasket say? What happened at the swings? Did he talk to Hairbrush?" Mop inquired anxiously as Boomer returned him, tendrils flat from wringing, to the cart parked in Kate's office.

Maggie leaned her grip toward Broomie's handle. "He did. Kate didn't take her purse, but she had Hairbrush in the pocket of her coat along with Keys and Badge. Keys and Badge don't talk much. None of them saw anything, but they all heard what Rick said to Kate. He told her he'd been thinking about all the things that had happened to them the last few months and he thought it would help to have a fresh start. He wants to renew their vows. Hairbrush had no idea what that meant but she said Kate seemed to be very happy about it. She could hear them kissing. Then Kate pointed out that they couldn't do it in public because of LokSat. Rick said he knew and that it only had to be the two of them anyway. So he suggested they could drive to the Hamptons. He thought it would be cold and windy near the ocean and there would be no one around, but they could stand at sunset where they made their vows before, and make them again. They're going to do it Saturday, so no one gets suspicious about Kate leaving the precinct early. Hairbrush said Rick sounded more like his old self when he suggested they could stay the night at the beach house after they made their vows."

"Isn't Saturday in two days?" Broomie wondered.

"It is," Broom confirmed.

Mop spun his handle excitedly. "Well if it gets them back to fun times, it can't be too soon."


	14. Chapter 14

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 14

Maggie waved her grip cheerfully. "Kate was really happy on the phone in here this morning talking to Rick about their trip to the Hamptons."

"She was even humming when she left," Broomie noted. "I haven't heard her do that in a long time."

"Not since she became captain," Broom offered.

"That was also when she broke up with Rick," Maggie reminded him. "She could never be happy enough to hum when they were apart. Even before they do the vow thing tomorrow, things seem to be a lot better."

Mop twirled his tendrils in anticipation. "I'm hoping they get a lot better in here too. He did tell her he was going to try to sneak in this morning around the time a lot of the cops take their coffee breaks. He said he'd text her when he had the place ready for them. I wonder what he meant by that? I bet it will be good!"

"Good in your opinion, maybe," Broom griped.

* * *

Maggie rubbed her grip dreamily against Broomie's handle. "That was so sweet. He brought a blanket, and strawberries, and tiny bits of chocolate."

Mop twined his tendrils around his head. "I like it better when he gets her up against the door. That rocks this place."

"If you like things shaking off the shelves," Broom interjected.

Mop paid no attention to Broom's comment, gleefully continuing on. "The blanket was okay too. The strawberries and chocolate were new, at least for in here. Hairbrush has told me they've had them at the loft, but I never got to watch before. When she bit into the strawberry and he licked the juice off her face, that really got things going. She couldn't pull his shirt off fast enough."

Broom slid out of Dustpan, scratching his bristles against the floor. "Here you go again."

"No, there they went again," Mop retorted. "I was just enjoying the show. I think everyone here was except you, and you probably were too. You just won't admit it. I think Rick was actually more careful than usual with Kate's clothes though."

"She did have to go back and look like a captain," Maggie noted.

"Yeah," Mop agreed, "too bad about that. Rick didn't tug too hard at anything and he sure didn't rip anything, but he got everything off. She wasn't that careful with him. I think a button rolled under the shelves somewhere. If Boomer finds it, he'll probably wonder where it came from. Oh, but who cares? She couldn't get enough of touching him. Same with him. He had his hands everywhere on her, and his mouth too, especially on her bumps and then the place where he sticks his handle when it gets all stiff."

"Did she like that?" Maggie wondered. "She was moaning and grabbing at the blanket."

"Oh she liked it," Mop assured her, "but it looked like it made her really want his handle. She even kissed it before he put it in the place she has for it. It was strange the way she bent her legs, they were almost behind her head. I don't think I've seen a human do that before."

"Rick did smile about how flexible Kate is," Broomie recalled. "maybe that's what he he meant."

Mop waved a tendril. "You're probably right. He really seemed to like it. He liked everything - a lot. After all the things they did, I thought they were going to lie on the blanket and rest for a long time. But then the noise started out there and Kate was in a hurry to get her clothes back on and check on what was happening. Rick just put himself together enough to sneak down the back stairs. He told her he thought he knew what was going on and it wasn't anything to worry about and that he wished he could stay with her but it was better that he go."

Broom fluttered his bristles. "Thank Master Cleaner for that!"

* * *

"Is there another case?" Broom inquired, when Mop was returned after soaking up overenthusiastic spurts from Espresso.

"Not a case," Mop reported, "at least not a new one. A whole bunch of women and a few men came. From what Espresso could make out, they were the wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, and husbands of the cops. They got together and decided to fix this place up for the holidays. They brought a tree and lots of stuff to hang up all over the place and a lot of food too.

"Espresso said Jenny, Ryan's wife was here. She brought their little one, Sarah Grace. She was running around all over the place and the cops kept picking her up. Jenny is really big in front, too. Espresso said she was talking to some of the other wives about having another little one.

"Kate told Jenny that the tree could be set up in the break room. The cops moved some tables around. It's going to be harder to clean in there now. There are already green pointy things all over the floor, too. Then everyone one who came hung all sorts of bright things all over the tree. They put boxes underneath it with names on them. Then they put all their other stuff up, including that green stuff that people kiss under. Espresso said Kate looked at that and walked off. Jenny called after her and asked if she wanted to talk, but she said no.

"Then the tables in the break room were filled up with all kinds of food. A lot of the cops took it back to their desks. I think Boomer is going to have a very busy night with all the crumbs and spills. L.T.'s girlfriend set up a karaoke machine. Esposito wanted to take it over but the other cops told him he couldn't and they all ended up singing things they called Christmas carols. Even Sarah Grace sang a little bit and Kate stood outside the doorway, behind everyone, and sang softly. Espresso said she was very good, but he didn't think many people noticed her there. Finally she told the cops everyone needed to get back to work and they could continue their fun at the official Christmas party.

"The cops and everybody who came groaned at that. Espresso said he heard some of them saying that without Rick around Kate had turned into a Grinch. I don't know what that is, but it didn't sound good."

Maggie fluttered her cloth with a sigh. "Poor Kate. I'm sure she wishes she and Rick could have been at that party together. They would have had a lot of fun."

"Oh come on!" Mop exclaimed. "They had fun in here, lots of fun. That was some of the best fun I've seen from them. Who cares about a party with a lot of people who just leave crumbs and spills everywhere?"

Maggie settled against Broomie. "I think Kate does. Rick really wanted to be there too. I hope at least everything is really nice for both of them when they go to the Hamptons tomorrow."

"Yeah," Broomie agreed, nuzzling her grip with his handle, "me too."


	15. Chapter 15

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 15

Mop's handle twirled as his tendrils twined in ecstasy. "I have a source for what happened in the Hamptons," he announced.

Broom's wires screeched against the metal surface of Dustpan. "Oh no!"

"Oh yes," Mop returned. "Hairbrush told me that when Kate fixed her hair for her renewal of vows with Rick, she wanted something special, so she put a comb that used to belong to her mother in it. Comb heard and saw everything and told Hairbrush about it when Kate took down her hair later. Then they were both on the dresser in the bedroom."

"Oh Master Cleaner," Broom groaned.

"I want to hear about the ceremony," Maggie urged. "I bet it was beautiful."

"I'm sure Mop's way more interested in what happened after the ceremony," Broom grumbled.

"Come on Mop," Maggie cajoled, "what happened at the ceremony?"

Mop settled triumphantly on his tendrils. "Hairbrush said Kate was wearing a long dress and she had a coat over it because it was cold and the wind blowing in from the water was undoing all Hairbrush's work. Kate's hair was everywhere, including her face. Rick didn't seem to mind at all. He was bundled up too. He had a scarf on. He and Kate were both wearing gloves too and their faces were getting red as the wind hit them.

"Kate started first. She promised to stay with Rick always, no matter what happened. She told him that he would be the one person who would hear all her thoughts and there could be no more lies. She said she would love him and support him forever.

"Then it was Rick's turn. He promised to stand by her side no matter what happened. He promised to love her and care for her always. Then they finally got to the kiss. They didn't stay outside too long after that. Hairbrush said Comb thought the sky was beautiful, all orange, pink, and purple, but Kate was shivering and Rick held her against him as they went to the house.

"Rick made a fire in in the bedroom and Kate lit a whole bunch of candles. Then Kate let down her hair and put Comb and Brush in their places on the dresser. Rick took off everything he was wearing and got into the bed to wait for Kate. She took off her clothes and dressed in something white, but Hairbrush could see through it. She said it wasn't the kind of shirt Kate usually wears to bed. Then Kate got in bed next to Rick. He pulled her close to him and ran his fingers through her hair. Then he whispered 'I love you Mrs. Castle.'

"After that they started to kiss and they kissed for a long time. Hairbrush and Comb couldn't see what happened after that because it was under the covers, but what they said it sounded like was a lot like what happened in the closet when Rick brought the strawberries, except that they didn't mention moaning or Kate bending like that. Hairbrush said it was more like they were breathing together. When they finished, Rick had his arm around Kate and she had her head on his chest. Then they slept like that all night."

"What happened in the morning?" Maggie asked.

"They kissed when they woke up," Mop replied, "then Hairbrush thought they did all the fun stuff all over, but they were still under the covers, so she couldn't see. Then they lay together again for a while until Rick said Kate had exhausted him in the best possible way, but he needed coffee. Then they both got up and put robes on. Hairbrush said she didn't see much after that. They got dressed and Rick got what he said was an alert on his phone. He showed it to Kate and they decided to go back to the city."

"An alert about what?" Mop queried.

"Hairbrush said Rick mentioned Russians. After that, Kate shoved her in the bottom of her purse. There was a lot of stuff on top of her and she couldn't hear much."

* * *

"Did you find out anything about the Russians?" Broom asked as Maggie was returned from her chore of getting up the crumbs from the Monday morning doughnuts.

Maggie fluttered her cloth. "Nothing. Espresso said Kate got coffee this morning but she didn't have her purse with her so she couldn't talk to Hairbrush."

"She probably put her purse in the drawer of her desk," Broom mused. "Well at least Wastebasket should hear something. We can ask him when Boomer wheels us in there tonight."

* * *

"So what did Wastebasket say?" Mop demanded, still dripping into Bucket as Boomer shoved them both back in place on the cart.

"He said Lucy heard something about Russians yesterday and told Hairbrush about it," Broom answered. "Rick sent some coded email to a journalist he knows who covers a lot of stuff in the countries that used to be part of the old Soviet Union. That's what Russia used to run. From what Lucy could understand, it's the guy, besides himself, Rick based Jameson Rook on. Rick called him Charlie. It took Charlie a while to get back to Rick because Charlie was out of range of any internet. He told Rick that he'd heard that someone new named Suskin had taken over Volkov's operation. They were setting up a network based in Chechnya and funded by drug money obtained mostly from the United States. Goluvkin worked for them as a killer. There were whispers of connections with a mole in the CIA. Charlie had heard some chatter about someone named LokSat, but he didn't have any solid information. He also told Rick he'd heard about someone from the NSA checking Suskin out and that the person in charge was a woman, but he didn't know the name Rita. He did say that the NSA plants people in the CIA and other agencies from time to time. Charlie thought from what Rick told him about Vikram, it was possible that he was an NSA plant, but he was just guessing. He told Rick he'd keep his ears open and let Rick know if he got any further information."

"No wonder Rick wanted to come back to the city!" Mop exclaimed. "That information is so important to him and to Kate."

Broom flicked his bristles in surprise. "So now you're really interested in the case?"

"Of course," Mop replied. "If Rick and Kate can figure all of this out, Kate can get rid of Vikram. Then he won't be around to mess up all my fun anymore. And if they solve the whole LokSat mess, things can get back to normal for them. That can only be good for me."

Broom clanged loudly against Dustpan. "Of course that would be your motive! How could I have expected anything else? Although you might think about this. If Rick and Kate get everything settled, then she can finally move back to the loft. They won't have to sneak in here as much anymore. That just might cut into your fun time."

Mop shook his handle. "No, before this, Rick was around the precinct all the time and he could work with Kate. They didn't have to hide it. But when they had a chance, they'd still come in here for fun. That was great! I want then to be like that again. And if Kate moves back to the loft, there will be even more to get from Hairbrush. As far as I'm concerned, the sooner they get everything solved the better."

Broom slid down in Dustpan, his bristles scratching against the plastic of the cart. "You have to be Master Cleaner's biggest example of someone wanting all the right things for all the wrong reasons."

"Maybe," Mop conceded. "But whatever our reasons, we all want them, and so do Rick and Kate."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N This chapter picks up directly after the last one. Our cleaning crew is still on the cart.

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 16

"You know," Broom pointed out, "Rick and Kate were not the only ones talking about Vikram. Tissue Holder told me that Ryan and Esposito were in the lounge and they were talking about him too."

"I miss everything!" Mop complained, shaking still wet tendrils and sending drops all over the bottom of the cart. "What did they say about Mr. Sticky Floors?"

"Tissue Holder said Ryan heard Vikram on the phone with someone, a woman. He didn't use her name, but he told her that he was doing his best to keep Rick and Kate apart and he thought it was working because they were fighting more," Broom related. "It looks like their act is working, even if it almost worked too well."

"So what are Ryan and Esposito going to do?" Mop wondered.

"Esposito was really mad. He wanted to go into Tech and teach Vikram some manners. Tissue Holder thought Esposito meant he wanted to hit Vikram, but Ryan calmed Esposito down. He told him there was no point letting on that they'd heard Vikram's conversation, before they have a chance to tell Kate about it. They're going to talk to Kate when she comes in tomorrow morning," Broom replied. "It sounded like they're hoping she'll fire Vikram. Or if not, Esposito wants some time with Vikram in the gym."

"Oh, that sounds good!" Mop exclaimed. "I hope they talk to Kate someplace where we can hear about it."

"They'll probably talk to her in her office," Broom assumed. "Wastebasket will hear it. Kate hasn't swept anything up in there lately. Maybe Esposito will get more of the white or brown stuff from doughnuts on the floor and she'll make him clean it up again. But if none of us gets near Wastebasket sooner, we can find out what happened from him tomorrow night."

* * *

"Is that Kate coming down the hall?" Maggie asked, rising on her base from her place in the closet. "That sounds like the sounds of those sticks in her shoes."

"It is," Broom confirmed, "and it sounds like Ryan and Esposito are with her. They have light and heavy steps. Maybe they didn't want to be seen talking in her office. Well at least we won't have to wait 'til Boomer takes us around tonight to find out what they say."

"Well that was interesting," Mop commented when the closet was empty of humans again. "Kate told them the truth."

"It makes sense," Broom offered. "When Kate and Rick finally started dating each other, they wanted to keep it a secret because they were afraid that Kate would get in trouble with Captain Gates and Rick would get thrown out of the precinct. Ryan found out anyway, and then he had to tell Esposito, when Rick got framed for murder. But they kept the secret until they could tell it without hurting Rick and Kate. I think Kate can trust them to keep this one too. Now that they know, Ryan and Esposito can worry about Vikram and LokSat instead of what's going on between Rick and Kate. And they may be able to help."

"Ryan's got friends in Narcotics and it sounds like Esposito knows some people in some kind of secret military operations," Broomie added. "That could be useful somehow. I think they were kind of disappointed that Kate isn't going to fire Vikram, but Esposito thought what she said about 'keeping your enemies closer,' made sense. So now Vikram will have three people watching him at the precinct."

"And us," Maggie put in, "don't forget us."

"Like with the messes he makes we could help it," Mop grumbled.

* * *

"What's the matter Maggie?" Broomie asked as she was returned, cloth drooping, from the break room.

Espresso said Kate was getting a cup of coffee when she got a call from Rick, or at least he thought it was from Rick. There was no one in the break room with her, so she took the call, but she didn't put it on speaker. It wasn't long and she just said she loved him and told him to take care of himself." The edge of Maggie's cloth fluttered. "I wonder if Rick is sick. Espresso said Kate looked worried."

"Well maybe she'll go to the loft and find out," Mop suggested. "Maybe she'll even go at lunch time. Lucy could tell Hairbrush whatever she knows and then we can hear about whatever Kate does to help him feel better."

Broom flipped his loop. "And I'm sure you're not thinking about Kate giving him one of those pills humans take when something hurts them. You just want them to do something to make you feel better."

"What's wrong with everyone feeling better?" Mop retorted. "Anyway, we'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

"I wonder when they'll fix that leaky sink in the Ladies' Room," Mop grouched, flicking his damp tendrils.

"Probably no time soon," Broom replied. "Wastebasket's told me a couple of times that Kate calls 1PP a lot complaining that there's no budget for simple maintenance. She's told Rick it's one of the things she hates most about being captain, having to beg for funds that should be automatic."

"Well speaking of Kate, she was in the Ladies' Room when she came back from lunch and Towel Dispenser talked to Hairbrush. Kate did go to the loft," Mop relayed.

"I would have thought you'd sound happier about that," Broom jibed.

"I don't think there's much to be happy about," Mop answered. "They didn't do anything fun. Lucy told Hairbrush that Rick's head was really hurting him, even though he took some pills, and that his ears were ringing. Kate wanted to take him to a doctor, but he said no, that he was getting flashes of things. He thought talking to Charlie had triggered something and he was beginning to remember more about what happened while he was missing."

"Well you could have started with that," Broom declared. "That's important."

"Yeah well Kate thought so too and she wanted to stay with him, but he said he was going to try to sleep, that maybe something would come to him in a dream like it did last time he started remembering." Mop continued. "He wanted Kate to go back to the precinct so no one would start asking questions about where she was. She didn't want to. But," Mop added, twining his tendrils, "she did say she wanted Rick to call her if he needed anything and that she'd go back to the loft and check on him after she got off shift. Things could get better then."

Broom flared his bristles. "You are ever hopeful. Did she tell him about Ryan and Esposito?"

"If she did, I didn't hear about it," Mop replied.

"She'll probably tell him when he's feeling better," Maggie offered. "He should be glad he can be open with his friends again. Maybe telling him about it will make him feel better. She'll probably tell him tonight."

"Well as usual," Mop remarked disconsolately, "if something good happens at the loft, we have to wait to find out about it. I just hope Kate doesn't forget to bring Hairbrush tomorrow."

Maggie leaned her grip toward Broomie. "And I'll pray to Master Cleaner that Rick's okay."


	17. Chapter 17

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 17

Maggie leaned her grip anxiously into Broomie's handle as he was returned from the break room. "Did you hear anything about Rick?"

Broomie rubbed against her comfortingly. "I did. Someone managed to spill a bag of cheese puffs and while I was sweeping them up Espresso filled me in. Kate was in the break room for a long time this morning. Espresso said it looked like she went there before she even went into her office. She was still wearing her coat and she had her purse with her, so he could talk to Hairbrush. Kate made herself a triple Espresso, but it took her a couple of tries to get it right. Espresso thought she was sleepy. Then she drank it fast and made one of those vanilla lattes she likes. She sat there a long time with that, so Hairbrush had plenty of time to tell Espresso everything.

"When Kate went back to the loft last night Rick was asleep, so Kate made some coffee in the kitchen and Hairbrush talked to Lucy. Lucy told her that Rick had slept for a while after Kate was gone in the afternoon, but he woke up and told Lucy that he remembered something about Suskin. He was dreaming about when Alexis was kidnapped and he remembered Volkov talking to someone named Suskin. He's never remembered that before. He wondered if that part of his memory had been wiped. He called Alexis to see if she remembered Suskin. She did, but she hadn't paid much attention to him because she was so scared and he and Volkov were speaking Russian so she couldn't understand them the way she could understand the French henchmen Volkov had with him. She asked Rick why, but he told her not to worry about it, that he'd just had a bad dream.

"Then Rick told Lucy he was going to try to go back to sleep to see if he could remember anything else. That's what he was doing when Kate came to the loft. He woke up when Kate made coffee. He told her the smell called to him. He said he was feeling better now that he was remembering something he could understand. Then he and Kate decided to use some software he had on his computer to put together a picture of what Suskin looked like. Lucy couldn't hear any more after that and neither could Hairbrush, because Kate put her purse in the bedroom while she and Rick worked in the office. Hairbrush wasn't sure, but she thought they were at it for hours before they finally went to bed. And sorry Mop, from what Hairbrush could hear, all they did was sleep. It sounded to her like Rick was moving around a lot and mumbling while he slept, but she couldn't make out any words. Kate got up in the morning and got ready to come back to the precinct. She pulled Hairbrush out of her purse for a few minutes while she brushed her hair, so Hairbrush could see Rick was still sleeping. She said his face looked kind of damp. Then Kate came here."

Maggie pulled her grip up straight. "I think I hear her. She's alone. Maybe she wants to make a call in here."

"That was interesting," Mop commented after Kate was gone. "Agent Danberg seemed really interested in Suskin."

"Well Russians are a CIA thing," Broom pointed out. "If they weren't, Rick's father would never have gotten involved with Volkov and Alexis would never have been kidnapped. It's good that Kate can send Agent Danberg the picture that she and Rick put together last night."

"Yeah, Kate said she's going to have one of her people reach out to Narcotics and see if there's a drug connection too," Maggie added. "She must have meant she was going to have Ryan do it. I wonder if she'll go back to the loft at lunch to check on Rick again today."

Mop fluttered a tendril. "I hope so."

* * *

"So what did you hear from Wastebasket?" Mop queried as Boomer returned him and Bucket to the cart.

"Hairbrush told him that Kate couldn't go back to the loft at lunch because she got a call from 1PP and she had to go to a meeting there," Broom relayed. "Hairbrush said she seemed worried about that and called Rick whenever she got a chance. She went to the Ladies' Room a couple of times at 1PP so she could use her phone without anyone hearing her. She told him about her call with Agent Danberg and told him she'd be there as soon as she could. Hairbrush couldn't hear his side of the call but she thought Rick might be remembering more things.

"Hairbrush heard some of what went on at the meeting too. Captain Gates - I guess she's Deputy Chief Gates now - was running it. She said a lot more money was being spent on anti-terrorism because of the mass shootings around the country and the N.Y.P.D. was even shorter of funds than they had expected. She didn't sound too happy about it, but she gave them her plan. She was talking about conserving police resources so they would have them for critical cases. She told Kate and the other people at the meeting - Hairbrush thought they might be other captains - that they would have to be submitting what she called a more detailed accounting of where all the funds from precincts were being spent including overtime and civilian employees. She advised them to minimize the use of paid civilians as much as possible and give as much work as they could to volunteers. Hairbrush said that Gates caught Kate afterward and told her that what she said applied especially to Rick, she called him Mr. Castle. She told Kate that if Rick was willing to investigate for free, Kate should take him up on it, that he could probably afford it better than the city could at that moment. Kate called Rick again after that and told him what Gates had said. It would give her a good excuse to have him around the precinct even while she and Rick were still pretending to be apart. She also thought Gates had given her a great reason to cut back on Vikram's time at the precinct. She and Rick wouldn't have to worry about him spying on them and trying to cause more trouble as much. That thought seemed to cheer Kate up a bit, although she was still worried about Rick.

Hairbrush told Wastebasket she really couldn't make out much of what Rick said because Kate still had the volume on her phone turned way down, but she thought he sounded pleased."

Mop swirled his tendrils against Bucket. "Always good when Rick is pleased."

"Not that kind of pleased!" Broom exclaimed angrily. "If he's still trying to remember things, it's probably still painful. I doubt that he'd be in the mood for your kind of fun."

"You never know," Mop argued.

"Rick and Kate seem to be making some real progress. Let's just see what we hear tomorrow," Maggie counseled. "If Rick's going to be around the precinct more, it should be a lot easier to find out what's going on. I just hope he's up to it."

Mop's tendrils twined around his head in anticipation. "Yeah, I hope he's up too."


	18. Chapter 18

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 18

"Is that Ryan and Esposito headed this way?" Maggie wondered.

"That does sound like their footsteps," Broomie offered. "Since they're in on Kate's secret now, they might want to talk away from the bullpen or the break room."

When the door had closed behind the departing partners, Broom spread his bristles. "I'm glad Kate talked to them. It sounded like she and Rick will be making progress much faster that way. But the things these humans do! Esposito was talking about the black ops - I guess those were secret operations people - that worked with Osama bin Laden against the Russians, before bin Laden turned against the United States. He said they found out that the Russians had set up a network to help the Afghans on their side raise money from drugs. Then Ryan put in that there was a rumor in Narcotics that a Russian named Suskin had taken over the operation and was still sending drugs to the U.S.. The DEA can't do anything about it because Suskin's being protected by someone high up in our government, supposedly for national security reasons. Esposito suggested that whoever is protecting Suskin might be the LokSat that Kate is after. They decided to tell Kate as soon as she comes in."

"It is a little late for Kate," Maggie noted. "I wonder if she stayed extra time with Rick this morning."

Mop rose on his tendrils."Well now that she's got an excuse for talking to Rick, she can get away with it. The two of them can probably get away with anything."

Broom scratched his bristles against Dustpan. "Don't be so smug, Mop! If Kate has an excuse for Rick to spend time in her office, they may not have to sneak in here as often. That could cut into your fun time."

Mop flicked a tendril confidently. "I don't think so. They may have an excuse to talk in Kate's office, but they're still pretending to be apart. If they're going to have any fun while he's at the precinct, they'll still have to do it in here. What I really wish I could hear would be what Kate tells Vikram, now that she's got a reason to get him out of here, at least part of the time. That could be almost as much fun as watching Rick and Kate."

"It's rare, but you do have a point," Broom agreed. "When captains have to talk to somebody about their job, they usually do it in their office. Montgomery did that and so did Gates. Kate probably will too. So Wastebasket should be able to tell us about it."

Mop's tendrils sagged. "But I almost never get to hear Wastebasket. Boomer usually has me in water while you guys are parked where you can talk to him. I always get his stories second hand, or third hand if he gets them from Hairbrush."

"Don't worry, Mop," Maggie soothed. "If you don't hear it, we'll tell you all about it. Oh, someone wants you."

* * *

"What was that about?" Broom asked as a coffee-scented Mop was returned to the closet.

"Kate came into the precinct and went to the break room while Ryan and Esposito were in our closet," Mop reported gleefully. "She still had her purse with her and Espresso got everything from Hairbrush. Espresso leaked all over the floor to get me in there. Kate and Rick were talking this morning, that's why she was late. She realized that not only was Vikram trying to steer her away from Rick, the information he was giving her was a lie. When she and Rick worked on the murder aboard that ship, Vikram told her that the heroin found in the murder victim was an exact match to Vulcan Simmons' heroin. He had to be lying because that heroin traced back to to the Los Satos drug cartel. The drug trade supporting LokSat is tied in with the Russians. Even without what Ryan and Esposito are going to tell her this morning, she realized that Vikram couldn't have been telling her the truth. The Russians wouldn't get their heroin through that cartel. They'd lose all the profit. Then she told Rick about Vikram tying in that lawyer Caleb Brown. She thinks Brown is just a red herring, She thinks that maybe he was a corporate attorney who realized that he was mixed up with the wrong people and decided to take a different path, kind of like the victim in the case about about the car company cover-up that she and Rick worked on together. She's going to keep an eye on Brown in case he is still tied up with drugs, but now she doesn't think he has anything to do with LokSat."

"After Kate talks to Ryan and Esposito she'll be sure that Vikram was steering her in a completely wrong direction," Broom realized. "I wonder what she'll do?"

"After she hears from Ryan and Esposito, she'll have to call Rick," Maggie asserted. "I mean that's what I'd do if I were Kate. It's going to be the two of them tracing the Russians together, with a little help from Ryan and Esposito. "

"You're right," Broom acknowledged. "What happened to Rick when he was missing and what happened to Kate, it all fits together somehow, probably with LokSat at the root of it. Now that that Vikram won't be able to lead Kate to false clues anymore, she and Rick have a much better chance of solving both mysteries."

* * *

"Did you find out what Kate said to Vikram?" Mop asked anxiously, his tendrils damp against the bottom of Bucket as Boomer shoved them both onto the cart.

"Wastebasket heard it all. Oh it was good!" Broom declared. "She didn't give away that she knew he lied to her. She just blamed everything on budget cuts. She told him she was cutting him to quarter time, that he couldn't spend any more than ten hours at the precinct. Then he told her that he'd just hang out at the stripper joint in Queens he'd found for them as a lair. Kate told him couldn't do that either. He'd have to clear all of his stuff out of there because Narcotics was going to auction off all the seized property to raise extra funds, since the N.Y.P.D. was so broke, and they would have people through to take an inventory. She also told him the N.Y.P.D. would be monitoring the power bills at the club too and that his activity if he tried to work there would be discovered. She said the use of electricity might have already raised questions but that if he left some old trash and signs of occupation around, it would probably be blamed on squatters. She instructed him to just work on official N.Y.P.D. business at the precinct and that she'd be in touch with him at his apartment if anything came up about LokSat. Then she threw in that the Deputy Chief had ordered her to use Rick's free services as much as she could."

Mop waved his tendrils, sending drops down Bucket's walls. "Ooh I bet Vikram wasn't too happy about that."

"He wasn't," Broom confirmed. "He told Kate he was disappointed in her and accused her of becoming a bureaucrat for the N.Y.P.D.. Then she told him that if she was a true bureaucrat, she'd cut his job entirely and let the detectives do most of their own tech work like they had a couple of years before. She said Ryan is really good at it. She assured Vikram that she was doing the best she could and Wastebasket thinks he believed her."

"And as soon as Vikram was out of her office she called Rick and told him all about it. Wastebasket couldn't hear what Rick said, but Kate was smiling and laughing," Maggie added.

Mop swayed happily. "I see fun times ahead."


	19. Chapter 19

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 19

"Rick and Kate were in the break room this morning," Maggie reported. "They were eating those chocolate croissants that get those flakes all over the floor. Rick was using me while he he and Kate were talking. No one else was in the room to see, so I guess they didn't worry about being together too much."

"Ooh, what were they talking about?" Mop inquired.

"Sorry Mop, it wasn't about fun," Maggie replied gently. "Rick decided that until he had more memories about the time he was missing or Kate had a good murder for him to work on, he was going to take another look at Bracken. He figured that if Bracken and LokSat were partners, then there had to be connections somewhere. He wants to look for them."

"That sounds dangerous," Broom commented. "What did Kate say?"

"She thought it sounded dangerous too," Maggie related. "She asked him to have Hayley recheck his firewalls to make sure he wouldn't be found out somehow. Then she suggested that he could work on Russian drug connections too, since the N.Y.P.D. hadn't been able to officially close the Jones case after the Feds stepped in. Working on the Jones case would also shore up his excuse to be around the precinct until another body dropped. Rick agreed with that. He reminded Kate that Vikram had fried the computer system in his office and said he wanted to go back there for a while to help Hayley set up a new one with the back-up from the loft. Kate said okay and she'd see him later."

* * *

"Sounds like Rick is back," Broomie noted. "Those are his steps on the back stairs."

"I wonder why he's coming in that way," Maggie puzzled. "He has an excuse to be here now. He could have just used the elevator."

Mop swayed hopefully on his head. "Maybe he's he's coming up for fun time. He's headed this way and I hear Kate coming too."

"Well that was interesting," Broom commented after the Castles left the closet. "No one followed the trail of the Bracken family financials before. But thinking about it, since Bracken was the only one accused of a crime, without a warrant it probably would have been illegal for the police to do that. Of course that wouldn't stop Rick, especially now. So Rick found that Bracken transferred a lot of money to an account his wife had in the Caymans. Rick thought that was strange because if the money was going to the Caymans anyway, Bracken could have put it in his own account."

"Maybe Bracken just wanted to make sure his wife had money in case something happened to him," Maggie suggested.

"I don't think Rick thought so," Broom pointed out. "He saw transfers from that account, which wouldn't have happened if it was just for her safety, especially since they went through a chain of accounts leading to Afghanistan. He told Kate there was a lot of activity left to trace and he is anxious to look into it."

Mop swirled his tendrils. "Okay, now you're getting to the good part, when Kate rubbed against him and said she hoped he wasn't too anxious."

Broom clanged against Dustpan. "Of course you'd have to take it there."

"Well it was good!" Mop retorted. "Rick liked it, especially since all they've been doing in bed lately is sleeping. He really liked the skirt she's wearing because he could pull it up so easily. And he liked the snaps that made her blouse easy to open too. He really got going when she told him she bought the clothes with him in mind. I could feel the heat coming off them when he kissed her and then when he lifted her up that way while they were still kissing, that was great. Kate must have thought so too, since she could hardly wait to get to his handle. He didn't even have his shirt off. She just opened it so her bumps rubbed against his chest. Maybe she was too fast," Mop mused, "it might have been more fun if it lasted longer. Well Rick did say something about a round two later. I hope someone can fill me in on that."

"I'm sure someone will," Broom responded, his straws flaring in disgust. "Or maybe not. You hear that? It sounds like there's a new case in the bullpen. Kate and Rick may be busy with other things."

* * *

"So what did Board say about the new case?" Mop asked as Boomer returned him to the cart.

"It was a lady," Maggie replied sadly. "They called her the lunch lady. Board had a picture of her. She was kind of round and sweet looking with white hair."

"She delivered lunches to some of the buildings in the financial district," Broomie continued. "The name on her picture was Dolly Steen."

"There was another picture of her too," Broom added. "It was pretty bad. Whoever killed her stuffed her mouth full of paper and taped it and then covered her nose so she couldn't breath. The killer did something to her eyes too. They were all bloody. Board said Kate told Ryan and Esposito she thought the killer might be sending some kind of a message, like Dolly was looking at things she shouldn't have. Kate's having the detectives check on what was happening in the offices she visited to figure out what those things might have been. She said it was going to take a lot of manpower and Rick had offered to work on the case. She told the detectives that Rick thought Dolly was a colorful character and he was thinking of having someone like her in his next book."

"Sounds like Kate was giving another excuse for having Rick around the precinct," Mop suggested. "Good for her."

"And she could have just been telling the truth too," Broom offered. "Rick has used a lot of things from the cases around here in his books. But anyway he'll be here. Board also had a picture of a suspect on him. It was Dolly's husband, Corby Steen. Kate didn't really think he fit the pattern of the murder, but she said that statistically the murderer is likely to be the spouse, so they have to check him out. Esposito told her that he and Ryan tried to talk to Corby, but he was so upset about his wife's death that his daughter called a doctor for him and he had been sedated. That means he was too sleepy to talk. They're going to bring him in here tomorrow to question him.

"Kate told them she might look in on their interview if she had the time. She was complaining a little about all the extra paperwork she has to do for 1PP under the new budget restrictions. Esposito teased her a little bit about that being what she got for wanting to be captain. She teased him back that if he ever made it to sergeant before he hit retirement age, he'd have plenty of paper of his own to worry about. Then Board said Ryan looked kind of sad and said that with Jenny pregnant again, he wished he had been able to move up to more paper - green paper. I think that meant money. Esposito comforted him a little telling him he was sure it would work out. Then Kate told him pretty much the same thing. Board thought Ryan looked a little guilty then and I bet I know why. When Kate and Rick were really apart, Ryan was in our closet a few times calling Rick with information on cases. I think Rick was paying him for that. It all worked out fine, but I don't think Ryan ever felt right about it."

"A father has to do what he can to take care of his family," Maggie remarked. "I'm sure that's all Ryan was doing." Her cloth fluttered. "I hope he can find another way to do it."

Broomie let his handle fall against Maggie's grip. "Don't worry Maggie, I'm sure he will."


	20. Chapter 20

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 20

"Espresso told me Ryan and Esposito were arguing in the break room," Broomie reported.

"What about?" Maggie asked.

"Well you remember how Board told us Ryan is so worried about money?" Broomie asked.

Maggie inclined her grip toward him. "Yeah, because of the new little one that's coming."

"Right," Broomie confirmed. "Anyway, Ryan and Esposito found out Dolly Steen was what Ryan called a day trader. When Ryan looked at her financials, he saw she'd made a lot of money doing it, too. He figured if a lady who made sandwiches for a living could do that, so could he. Then Esposito told him he was talking crazy. It was bad enough that he wasted his money on the lottery, but that was only a little bit. Esposito insisted that if Ryan started day trading, he could lose his shirt. I think he meant lose a lot of money. Then he said Ryan had no right to put his family in jeopardy that way. Espresso told me that Ryan got very quiet after that and just sort of whispered that he'd have to think of something. Then he reminded Esposito that they had to get ready for Corby Steen's interview and they left."

* * *

Mop bounced on the tips of his damp tendrils as he was returned to the closet. "Well that was kind of lucky."

"What happened?" Broom inquired.

"Corby Steen spilled his water while Ryan and Esposito were questioning him in the lounge. Tissue Holder told me all about what went on in there while I was swabbing it up." Mop declared with satisfaction.

"And...?" Broom prompted.

"Corby said that Dolly made lunches because she loved to," Mop continued. "She liked meeting the people and talking to them. But even though she barely broke even, they didn't worry too much about money. He didn't make that much either in his job as a maintenance worker. I think that's like what Boomer does. But Dolly was so good at investing as a day trader, she'd built them a little nest egg for their retirement.

"Ryan looked at Esposito kind of smugly after that, I guess because of the argument Broomie heard this morning. Esposito just seemed really ticked off and went on to ask if there was anyone who had a grudge against Dolly. Corby told him no, that everyone loved her, that's why her death was so confusing. Then Ryan asked how Dolly did her research as a day trader, whether there was anyone she might have been working with. Corby said no, that she just seemed to have an instinct for picking the right things to buy and sell. She just did it. Tissue Holder said Esposito snorted, but he wasn't sure if it was because Esposito didn't believe Corby, because he grabbed a tissue after that and blew his nose."

* * *

"I'm glad Boomer got distracted and left Wastebasket by the cart tonight," Mop announced happily. "For once I got to hear what happened in Kate's office today, straight from him."

"Yeah, Rick said he hadn't found anything else on the Russians connected to the Jones case, but what he told her about what he found on Mrs. Bracken was interesting," Broom recapped. "He found out that not only was her money going to Afghanistan, Mrs. Bracken has a private communications network hidden behind a string of computer tricks even more complicated than the ones Vikram and Hayley used when Rick had Hayley hack Kate's phone. Wastebasket said Kate made a strange face at that, but Rick went on to tell her he has Hayley working on cracking it. He said she's going very carefully to avoid giving away what she's doing."

"That Hayley was doing it at all, really seemed to worry Kate," Maggie added. "If Mrs. Bracken - Wastebasket thinks Rick called her Sheila - really is connected to LokSat and catches on to Rick, then all the pretending to be broken up won't protect him. Rick had to reassure Kate that he and Hayley were using an IP address - Wastebasket didn't know what that is - that wasn't traceable to him or to Hayley. Even if Sheila realized she was getting - Rick called it hacked - she wouldn't know who was doing it."

"Then the good stuff started," Mop jumped in. "Kate made sure the blinds in her office were closed and she sat with Rick on the couch and told him to make sure he stayed safe because she couldn't bear to lose him. Then they kissed. Wastebasket said it got pretty hot and he thought they'd do more than kiss, but Rick remembered he had to tell Kate some things he found on Dolly Steen."

"Yeah," Broomie recalled. "He said he went further into her financials than the police would, kind of like he did with Sheila Bracken. He checked on Dolly's grown children Melvin and Savannah. He noticed that there were several properties that had been put in their names but were bought by Dolly and thought they cost way too much money for a lunch lady to make, even if she was investing well. He suggested to Kate that something else was going on and that money was always a motive for murder. Kate agreed with that and said she'd have Ryan and Esposito check into it further and also interview Melvin and Savannah."

"Then Chair might know something," Broom realized, "and Boomer hasn't cleaned in interrogation yet. We should be able to ask him, when Boomer puts the cart in there."

* * *

"Ryan and Esposito talked to a Melvin Steen and a Savannah Steen," Chair confirmed while Boomer was wiping down the table and using Maggie on the floor. "They talked to them separately. Melvin and Savannah both seemed very upset about their mother's death. Ryan asked each of them about the property Dolly had put in their names. As far as I could tell they were both very surprised. They both insisted that Ryan had made some kind of mistake. Melvin said he was a renter and didn't own any property. He suggested that maybe the property belonged to someone else with the same name. Savannah didn't know about any property either. She thought her parents were just scraping by and saving what they could, like she and her brother were. She said she and Melvin had talked about final arrangements. They were worried that funerals are really expensive and they didn't know where they were going to get the money. They both knew their mother was a day trader, but they had no idea she was good at it."

"It's strange that Dolly would be doing something like that so successfully and not tell her kids how well she was doing," Broom asserted. "Humans do love to brag about making money."

"Yeah well Ryan and Esposito thought that was strange too," Chair recalled. "They talked about it a lot after Melvin and Savannah left. They thought that if Dolly was making a lot of money and her kids didn't know, something illegal was going on somewhere. Esposito thought that Dolly putting property in her kids' names without telling them was just more evidence of that she was hiding something. He and Ryan were pretty convinced that Dolly was murdered over whatever gave her the edge to make all that money, they just had to figure out what it was. Then Ryan said he had to leave as early as he could, to work on making more money of his own. He suggested that he and Esposito could sleep on the problem and talk about it in the morning."

"What did Esposito say to that?" Maggie asked.

"He told Ryan it was solid because he wanted to hunt up some action," Chair replied.

Mop waved a tendril in anticipation. "Oh that meant he wanted to try to find some fun with a lady. I hope he does, and brings her to our closet."

Broom clacked his wires against the cart. "What a one thought string head! You would!"


	21. Chapter 21

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 21

"Espresso said Ryan had three coffees this morning," a crumb-laden Maggie reported when she was stashed back in the closet. "Esposito told him he looked like hell and asked what he'd been up to. Ryan admitted that he'd been working as a bouncer at a male stripper bar again and the women had been really crazy. He showed Esposito a couple of places where he'd been scratched, but then he told Esposito, who was on his second coffee, that he didn't look too great either. But Espresso said Esposito seemed proud of how he looked. He said he'd found himself a stripper and her equipment definitely wasn't male. Esposito did a funny thing with his hips and made strange noises. Then Kate stuck her head in the door and asked Ryan to come to her office."

"What did she want?" Broomie asked.

"I don't know," Maggie replied, "but she didn't look mad. Maybe Rick found something else on the case Kate wanted to tell Ryan about."

"Wouldn't she have called Esposito too?" Broomie wondered.

"Sooner or later we'll find out," Broom assured them.

* * *

What did Ryan need you for?" Broom asked Mop after Ryan had carefully hung him on a hook to drip into Bucket.

"He was cleaning up the area around Vikram's chair," Mop explained. "There were a lot of dried drops from those sodas Vikram drinks, on the floor. Ryan was muttering something about not wanting to work in the lying slob's mess. He seemed to be pretty happy though. When he was bringing me back he said something to himself about being able to buy baby some new shoes. Then he whistled a little, like Boomer does."

* * *

"What were you doing in Kate's office?" Mop asked, after a feminine hand returned Broom to the closet.

"Kate found more of those little pieces of paper Rick surprised her with on her anniversary. They were all across the tops of the procedure manuals she keeps in one of her bookcases. She used me to get them, but she didn't want Dustpan. She brushed them right into her hand and then put them into an envelope where she was keeping all the other ones," Broom explained. "It took her some time, so I got a chance to talk to Wastebasket. He said Rick was in Kate's office this morning."

Oh," Mop inquired, swirling his tendrils in anticipation, "what happened?"

"Nothing to make you happy," Broom replied drawing his bristles together. "But I found out what she was talking to Ryan about. She told Rick that she would authorize as much overtime as she could for Ryan, doing things like scrubbing video, like Vikram had been doing. That way Ryan wouldn't have to get other jobs to make more money."

"Was that it?" Mop asked disappointed.

"No, but still no more of your fun stuff. Rick said Hayley had made some progress hacking Sheila Bracken. She'd found some connections going to Langley Virginia. Then Kate asked if Sheila had been in touch with the CIA. Rick said Hayley couldn't tell, but whomever Sheila was talking to was in that general area, so it wasn't a bad guess. Putting that together with Sheila's connections in Afghanistan, he thought there was definitely some spy stuff going on. Whatever Sheila was up to, she was much more than just a senator's wife. Then Kate made Rick promise again that he and Hayley would be very careful, and Rick left. He said he had last minute shopping and baking to do."

"He didn't even kiss her goodbye?" Mop prodded.

"No, but Wastebasket said they did one of those things where they rub each others' hands and say things about kissing," Broom admitted.

Mop's tendrils drooped. "Better than nothing."

* * *

"Did you hear anything from Board?" Broom asked after Broomie was shoved back in the closet with fragments of tortilla chips from Esposito's desk snack of nacho's still clinging to his straws.

"Uh huh," Broomie acknowledged, trying to flick himself clean despite the sticky cheese. "Melvin, Savannah, and Corby all have solid alibis. Esposito and Ryan have been talking to everyone they could who worked in the offices where Dolly Steen sold sandwiches. They're trying to figure out what might have gotten her killed and who would want to do it. Ryan noted that there were a lot of people who traded stocks, like he was thinking of doing, only way more of them. He was wondering if Dolly had been picking up tips from any of the traders. But all of them denied telling her anything. They said it was against S.E.C. - whatever that is - regulations."

Did Ryan and Esposito believe them?" Maggie wondered, rubbing the edge of her cloth against Broomie to try to help him get clean.

"Board doesn't think Esposito really believes anyone unless he has proof they're telling the truth," Broomie responded.

"Well, Board's got that right," Broom agreed. "Esposito is suspicious. What about Ryan?"

"He wasn't sure," Broomie related. "He thought that some of the people he talked to looked very nervous, but it might just have been because traders are like that. As things are right now, they don't really have a good suspect in their case. Ryan said he was glad he was going to be able to work on video for other cases though. He told Esposito that Kate assigned him several robberies to work on and there was a lot of traffic footage to go through. He thought that would certainly help out making ends meet for Christmas and maybe even give him a few dollars toward starting a college fund for the new baby. But he said he wasn't working tonight because it's Christmas Eve and Jenny would kill him. She's getting the Jewish girl - I'm not sure what that means - who lives in the next apartment, to watch Sarah Grace so she and Ryan can go to something called midnight mass."

"Oh I know what Jenny meant. Some of the detectives here are Jewish. They don't do Christmas. They have a different holiday," Broom explained. "I've heard them talk about it. It's longer and instead of giving a whole bunch of presents at once, they give one a day. They've already had it this year I think. They're going to be working shifts tonight and tomorrow so the cops who celebrate Christmas can have the time off."

"That's really nice," Maggie decided. "I wish Master Cleaner had a holiday. Holidays seem to make the humans so happy."

"Except when they have to worry about paying for them," Broom reminded her, "like Ryan did until Kate gave him that extra work. We get extra work too, cleaning up after all the food they bring in and that shiny stuff that falls off the tree. Vacuum says that really clogs his head up."

"You're just being a grouch," Mop accused. "All sorts of nice things happen when humans celebrate holidays, especially under that plant they hang up. I bet Kate and Rick are going to have a fun time tonight. And with any luck Lucy and Hairbrush will see everything and I'll hear all about it."

"Well I hope they do," Maggie agreed, settling on her base. "With all they've been through, they deserve it."

A/N Happy everything readers! I hope your prayers and wishes come true.


	22. Chapter 22

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 22

Cloth still clean, Maggie leaned her grip against Broomie's handle. "It's been very quiet this morning she observed. No one's spilled or dropped anything and not a lot of phones in the bullpen have been ringing."

"They're probably more busy down in robbery," Broom offered. "People steal a lot of stuff this time of year. But most of them are busy celebrating. It will probably pick up again tomorrow."

"Ooh, I hope Kate will be back tomorrow," Mop exclaimed, twining his tendrils. "I would love to know how they celebrated last night."

Broom ruffled his bristles. "I'm sure you would. But it will be a weekend and Kate can probably take it off if she wants to. You may not hear anything until Monday morning. Maybe I'll have some peace for once."

"That's what you say," Mop retorted. "But I know you miss Rick and Kate."

"I miss knowing about cases," Broom argued, "not about their fun time. But even if Kate isn't here, I bet Ryan will come in tomorrow, or maybe even tonight. He really wants the extra money and Kate did give him plenty to do."

Mop splayed his limp tendrils across the floor. "Traffic video. What a thrill!"

* * *

"What is Ryan doing?" Maggie wondered as Boomer cleaned the floor of the break room while Ryan sat at a high table with a mug of coffee in his hand and his phone in front of him.

"He's calling Kate," a busy Mop noted. "I hope he doesn't break up anything good. He's done that a lot. When they've been ready to have some fun, he's called Kate or come to her with some new evidence. When he does that, Rick's face gets all full of lines and he tugs at his pants so there's more room for his handle. Rick's muttered something about cop blocking a few times. It doesn't make him happy at all. Um, it took Kate a while to answer. Ryan may have done it again."

Broom clacked his wires against Dustpan, in their niche in the cart. "Can you be quiet! Ryan is saying something about trading. I want to hear."

"That was an interesting way for Ryan to come up with a clue," Broomie observed.

"it's just a shame that Sarah Grace's toy broke, though." Maggie said. "At least Ryan and Jenny were able to get her other things. But Ryan said that people who invested in the company that makes the toy are going to lose a lot of money except for some who tested the toy early and knew it was going to break. That started Ryan thinking that the reason that Dolly Steen made so much money was that she used her time at the financial offices to pick up information before most other people got it, maybe looking at things on people's screens or their desks. He was wondering if one of the traders lost money because of it and figured out what Dolly was doing. Kate thought that made sense, with what was done to Dolly's eyes, so she told Ryan that he and Esposito should look at the traders in those offices again to see if any one of them or their customers had a big loss. But she told Ryan he could hold off until Monday because everything would be closed down anyway and Dolly wasn't going to get any deader."

"I think I heard Rick calling to her just before she ended the call," Mop added. "Ryan must have interrupted something. It's going to be a long wait until Monday."

* * *

"That sink in the Ladies Room leaked over the weekend. There was a lot to clean up," Mop announced as Karpowski shoved him and Bucket back in the closet.

"For once you don't seem to be complaining about it," Broom commented.

Mop triumphantly waved his damp tendrils. "That's because Kate was in there and she brought Hairbrush. Kate seemed to need Hairbrush a lot. She whispered something about bed hair, too quietly for the other humans in there to hear it, but Hairbrush did and she told me."

"So did Kate and Rick have a nice Christmas?" Maggie wondered.

"Well Hairbrush got what she didn't see from Lucy. It sounded to me like it started out slow on Christmas Eve. Martha and Alexis came to the loft before Kate did. They had dinner with Rick and opened some presents. Finally they left. They said they were going to a party with Martha's friends from the theater. Rick called Kate and told her the coast was clear. Rick took presents he'd been hiding and put them under the tree for Kate. When she came, she brought some for him too. But they didn't open them. Rick had a bottle of the red wine Kate really likes and they drank some in front of the fireplace. That was when it finally got good.

"Kate said the fire and the wine were really making her warm. Rick offered to help and started unbuttoning her blouse. Then she said he seemed to be hot too, and unbuttoned his shirt. They kissed for a while after that until Rick scooped Kate up and carried her to the bedroom. Hairbrush was in Kate's purse on a chair in there so she got to hear what was going on. She said it sounded like they kissed a lot more, and then the bed started to make noises and Rick and Kate were breathing really hard the way they do when they're doing the fun things. When the bed stopped making noises, Rick sounded all out of breath and said, 'Merry Christmas to me.' Kate laughed at that and told him she was having a pretty merry one herself. Hairbrush thought they slept for a while after that but woke up again for more fun sometime during the night.

"Lucy had to fill Hairbrush in on what happened after they got up. Rick made what he called special Christmas pancakes. They had faces on them made with strawberries and what Lucy said was powdered sugar. Lucy thinks that's the same thing that goes on doughnuts. It's probably what Esposito is always getting on the floor. When they finished breakfast, they opened their presents. Rick gave Kate a necklace he said was to match the bracelet he gave her before all the trouble over LokSat started. Kate gave him an IOU for all the time together they missed while they were apart. Rick said he was going to start collecting. Then he kissed her and led her back to the bedroom. Hairbrush said she heard more bed noises after that and thought Rick and Kate were in the bed having fun or sleeping all morning.

"Finally Kate got Hairbrush out of her purse to smooth her hair down a little bit, before she and Rick decided they were hungry again and went back to the kitchen where Lucy could see them. Lucy said they got some of the leftovers from the dinner Rick had with Martha and Alexis out of the refrigerator and ate them. Then they had to get dressed because Martha and Alexis were coming over to look at their Christmas stockings and Kate had to leave for a while. Kate had a hard time with that and kept kissing Rick goodbye. Lucy had to warn her that Martha and Alexis were on the way up so she could take the back stairs. She took a final kiss and promised Rick she'd be back later."

"Was she?" Maggie asked.

"She was," Mop confirmed gleefully, "and she stayed until this morning. Hairbrush said Kate and Rick were in bed a lot. Kate's phone rang during one night. That must have been the call we heard from Ryan. But Kate got back to Rick. Hairbrush still didn't get to see much of anything because Kate left her in the bathroom, but she could hear them from there and she said she really understood why Kate had so much trouble with bed hair this morning."

Maggie slipped her grip over the tip of Broomie's handle. "It's so nice that Rick and Kate got to spend that much time together. That must have been a great holiday for them."

Mop swirled his tendrils joyfully. "And hearing about it gave me a pretty good one too."


	23. Chapter 23

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 23

Maggie swayed on her base. "Isn't that Rick coming up the back stairs?"

Mop's tendrils swirled around his head. "It is, maybe he doesn't want to just talk to Kate. Maybe they want to continue their holiday."

"You'd think they'd be exhausted with that," Broom commented, his bristles twitching.

"Maybe they just want to talk about something too private for Kate's office," Maggie suggested.

"That could be their holiday," Mop offered hopefully. "I hear Kate too. We'll know soon."

Mop sagged against the wall. "That was disappointing."

Maggie fell against Broomie. "I thought it was scary! Rick went back to sleep after Kate left and had another dream about the time he was missing. He remembered being grabbed by Goluvkin and his men after the helicopter took Bilal away. That was new. And his remembering being drugged and questioned, that was new too. He thought he heard Goluvkin mention Suskin. That's connecting everything more to what happened to Kate."

"Kate thought so too," Mop agreed. "She was wondering if the reason she was urged not to bring Castle into her LokSat investigation was not to keep him safe, but to keep him from remembering anything." Mop flailed his tendrils. "Rick said that if Kate is right, there's no reason for them to pretend to be apart anymore. He's in danger no matter what. He was even wondering if a public - he called it a reconciliation - might draw someone out to make a move."

"Kate did not like that idea at all," Maggie recalled, her cloth quivering. "She said if there's any chance pretending to be apart would keep him safer, they still needed to do it. I'm glad Rick agreed to that, at least for now. I don't want to see anything happen to him."

Broomie rubbed his handle against Maggie's grip comfortingly. "Rick should be fine."

"I don't know," Broom put in. "He said he was going to his office to work with Hayley on Sheila Bracken. That could be dangerous too. I wish Kate had just decided to leave the whole LokSat pile of dirt alone."

"It might not have helped," Maggie mused, leaning against Broomie. "With Rick remembering things, they may not be safe no matter what. I'm going to pray to Master Cleaner for them."

"Not a bad idea," Broom conceded.

* * *

"So did Board know anything else about Dolly Steen's murder?" a newly wrung out Mop asked the other occupants of the cart.

"He did," Broom relayed. "Ryan was right. Some of the traders had customers with huge losses. They thought a company called Proctu was in trouble because their sales were down. The customers did something called selling short. Board had no idea what that meant, but Ryan did. He said the shares of Proctu went up not down when someone started buying a lot of it. That was bad for the people who sold short. Later the news came out that another company was going to buy Proctu, but they were in what they called a quiet period and no one was supposed to know. If Dolly had snooped around, she could have found something on the desks or computers of some of her sandwich buyers who were handling the deal. Anyway, some of the traders lost their customers over what happened, which means they lost money themselves. Ryan said something about commissions and bonuses. He and Esposito are going to check those traders for alibis. Board had pictures of them on him. There were two guys named Sam Green and Buck Morton and a woman named Gedda Doe. They're going to interview them tomorrow."

"I heard Ryan and Esposito going back and forth to interrogation a lot today," Broomie noted as Boomer loaded the occupants of the closet onto the cart for another night of his rounds.

"Yeah, they must have been talking to those suspects Board had on him last night," Broom surmised. "Chair should be able to tell us all about it."

"Yeah," Chair confirmed in response to Broom's query, "they were here. The first suspect, Sam Green, he was big! I can still feel the strain on my screws. He was sweaty too. I hope Boomer gives me a good wipe. But it doesn't look like he did it. He told Esposito that when Dolly was killed, he was at a support group for men who are so big they scare women. He gave him the name of the facilitator, that's the guy who runs the group. Sam was there.

"Then they talked to the woman, Gedda Doe. She was just the opposite. She was really small. Her feet didn't even touch the ground when she sat in me, so after a while she just pulled them up underneath her. She talked really fast and her hands never stopped moving. She had really long fingernails too. After she left, I heard Esposito tell Ryan that he could see her scratching someone's eyes out with them. But she had an alibi too. She was a meditation class. She said it's supposed to help her slow down and relax. Ryan didn't think it worked for her, but her teacher confirmed she was there.

"Then the other guy, Buck Morton, he looked pretty average for a human. He wasn't tall or short. He didn't do much of anything except sit there and answer questions. He said he wasn't with anyone when Dolly was killed. He just went home and watched CNBC and tracked the financial news on his computer. Ryan and Esposito asked him if he emailed, texted, or tweeted anyone or did anything that would have a time stamp. He said that he didn't, but his doorman could probably tell them that he didn't go out. Ryan and Esposito checked, and the doorman didn't see Morton go out, but he also told them that there was more than one door to the building, so he didn't always know who came in and out. So Morton is still a suspect.

"Ryan said he couldn't picture the guy killing anyone, but he's going to check the traffic video around Morton's building for when his car was in and out of the parking garage underneath. Esposito said Morton doesn't have a police record, but he's going to do a background check. He noticed some callouses on Morton's hands that he couldn't have gotten typing at a computer or shuffling papers. He's going to get a warrant for the man's financials and see what else he does with his time. Oh, Boomer is getting his wipes out," Chair noticed gratefully. "Thank Master Cleaner!"

"Maybe Wastebasket will have more news about Kate and Rick," Maggie said as Boomer wheeled the cart from Interrogation to Kate's office."

Mop twirled a tendril. "I hope so. That would be more interesting than the Dolly Steen case."

"I don't care if it's interesting," Maggie insisted. "I just want to make sure everything's all right. Kate was so nervous for Rick when she left the closet this morning and all we've heard about is Ryan and Esposito."

"I'm sure Rick and Kate are fine. We would have heard something if they weren't," Broomie assured her. "But Boomer is picking up Wastebasket to dump him now, so you should find out."

Maggie fluttered her cloth despondently. "That wasn't much help. All Wastebasket could hear when Rick called Kate was that they would talk at the loft tonight."

"Hey," Broomie comforted leaning his handle toward her, "at least they'll be together."


	24. Chapter 24

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 24

"Kate left Hairbrush in the Ladies' Room," Mop reported, spraying drops of water at occupants of the closet as he shook out his wet tendrils. "She got a call on her cell from Esposito while she was in there and she forgot to put Hairbrush back in her purse. I hope she gets her later. Otherwise we won't know what happens in the loft."

Broom flicked a drop of Mop's water from a bristle in annoyance. "I can see how that would be a tragedy for you. You'd only know about the fun that happens here."

"Well you'd lose the reports of Rick's case work too," Mop retorted. "And Hairbrush did tell me some of that. Actually that was a lot of what she told me."

"What did happen in the loft, Mop?" Maggie inquired softly.

Mop settled on splayed tendrils. "Hairbrush said it felt to her like Kate went to the loft straight from the precinct, because the trip was very fast. She thought she heard Rick and Kate kissing when Kate came in too. But then they started talking. Rick told her that he and Hayley had found more information on Sheila Bracken and it went back to before she married her husband. She grew up in New York and went to Columbia University, same place Alexis is going, and majored in languages. As soon as she graduated she moved to Virginia. She lived in Langley and Rick thought she might have been recruited by the CIA. Sheila met William Bracken on a trip to New York to see her family when he was still a D.A.. Then she moved back to New York. Rick thought the CIA might have transferred her to the New York offices. They got married and she helped him run for Congress. Kate remembered that Bracken had used the money he got from dirty N.Y.P.D. cops to finance that campaign. Kate was pretty sure Sheila must have known where the money came from. Rick told Kate he was pretty much guessing about what happened after that. Bracken ran for Senate, but he needed money to break away from the control of kingmakers like Ben Moss, who Rick and Kate found out about when Kate kept Bracken from getting blown up by a car bomb. Rick was telling Kate he still couldn't understand how she could do that, knowing that Bracken was responsible for her mother's death, but he went on with his story. He thought Sheila used her CIA connections to link into the drugs coming out of Afghanistan. Then Bracken must have used the contacts he made while he was D.A. to take over Vulcan Simmons' drug ring, while still using Simmons as a figurehead. Then taking advantage of the access to power she had from her husband, Sheila moved up in the ranks of the intelligence community to where she had control over people who could protect Bracken's activities. Rick thinks Sheila Bracken is LokSat and that the name is a joke meaning she had a lock on a senator."

"What did Kate think of his story?" Broom queried. "Sometimes she really pokes holes in his theories."

Mop shook his handle. "Not this time. She thought it made sense, but she thought they needed more before they could try going after Sheila and she was wondering how Vikram, Rita, and Rick's abduction all fit in. She suggested she and Rick should sleep on it. Unfortunately for me, that's exactly what they did do. There was no fun time at all. But Rick did ask Kate about Dolly Steen's murder. She told him Ryan and Esposito had a suspect."

"That would be Buck Morton," Broom interrupted.

"Uh huh," Mop acknowledged, "but she told Rick that Ryan and Esposito were still checking him out and they should have more tomorrow. That's today.

"Then they went to bed, but Hairbrush said Rick was really restless and kept waking up until Kate made him tell her his dreams. He remembered that Bilal was taken away by a team with a medic in a helicopter, but Castle was taken away by another team and Goluvkin was with them. He told Kate that in his dream he could see a needle going into his arm and he could feel the burn of something flowing through his veins. I think those are those blue lines you can see under human's skin. Then he was taken to a room somewhere and people kept asking him questions about what he knew about Bracken and the drug operation and Russians. He told them he didn't know anything that hadn't come out at Bracken's trial and that as far as he knew, the drug operation had disappeared after Vulcan Simmons had been killed, probably by one of Bracken's operatives. He kept saying he didn't know anything about Russians but the men who were questioning him didn't believe him. He remembered constant bright lights that kept him from sleeping and more needles and loud music, then the dreams ended.

"Hairbrush said Kate asked Rick if he got shot in the dream. He said he didn't, but he felt like there was more, much more, it just hadn't come back to him yet. Then Kate suggested that it might be time to go back to see Dr. Burke."

"That's someone who helped Kate and Rick before," Broom explained to Maggie and Broomie.

"Yeah well," Mop continued, "Rick thought that might be a good idea and told her he'd call Burke to make an appointment in the morning and let her know when he'd be going. I guess he'll call her here at the precinct."

"Hey," Broomie put in, "I hear Ryan and Esposito going to interrogation. Maybe they got the information they were looking for on Buck Morton and they're questioning him again."

Maggie fluttered her cloth. "I hope they solve the case. It will give Kate and Rick one less thing to worry about."

"And one less excuse for Rick to be at the precinct," Mop reminded her.

Maggie pulled herself erect on her base. "I don't care. They need to be able to figure out everything that happened to Rick and take down LokSat, so they'll be safe.

* * *

"Did Ryan and Esposito have Buck Morton in here today?" Broom asked Chair as Boomer pushed the cart into Interrogation.

Chair creaked as Boomer moved him so he could clean the floor. "They did. They got him good too. Esposito found out what the callouses on Buck Morton's hands are. Morton looks pretty harmless, but he's actually into mixed martial arts. He would have no trouble at all killing someone or gouging their eyes. Esposito threw that in Morton's face. Then Ryan told Morton that he had video of Morton's car leaving his building just before Dolly's time of death and returning an hour later. He informed him that especially since he had lied about being home, they got a warrant for his DNA to compare it with what was found on Dolly's body. Esposito swapped Morton's mouth. He didn't seem to do it gently either. Morton looked like he was going to try to fight but Esposito stared at him and warned him to not even try it. After that Morton asked for a lawyer. Then Ryan and Esposito had L.T. take Morton to holding to wait for his lawyer and until the D.N.A. results come back."

"Look's like Ryan and Esposito solved their case," Broom offered.

"Yeah," Maggie agreed, "Now if Rick and Kate can just solve theirs."


	25. Chapter 25

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 25

"What's all that stuff the cops are tracking in?" Maggie wondered. "There's dirt and water that dries white."

"There's a monster storm going on in the country," Mop informed her. "I saw it on the screen when I was in the bullpen. New York City is getting ice, you know that cold stuff that they make from water by putting it in the top part of Refrigerator. It's coming down from the sky. I think they use that white stuff to melt it."

"It sure is a mess!" Maggie declared.

"More than that," Broom put in, "I've seen this before, When there are storms with ice the cops get very busy. There are a lot of of accidents and sometimes the power goes out too. That causes all sorts of problems and crime. This won't be an easy time for us or the humans. Kate's going to have to work really hard as a captain too. Montgomery and Gates always did at times like this."

Mop twisted his tendrils. "Pile of dirt! That's really going to cut into her fun time with Rick."

"I really think there are more important things to worry about," Broom chided. "People die in weather like this."

"Looks like I'm needed," Broomie said as a hand reached for his handle.

* * *

"Where were you?" Maggie inquired anxiously when Broomie was returned to the closet.

"The lounge," Broomie replied. "I guess they're trying to keep it clean in there. They left me in a corner for a long time. Vacuum was there too and he told me what happened this morning."

"What?" Maggie asked.

"Ryan and Esposito were talking to Corby Steen. Buck Morton's DNA came back a match to what was found on Dolly's body. They wanted to tell him they were charging Morton with murder, but before they could, he started crying," Broomie related. "He said it was his fault. Dolly hadn't looked at what was on trader's desks; he was the one who did it, when he was cleaning up offices. But he said he couldn't do the day trading himself because he was bonded and if anyone caught on he'd lose his job and wouldn't be able to get another one. So he had Dolly do it. He told Ryan and Esposito that he should have been the one that died. After he left, Ryan and Esposito were talking about reporting him, but decided that losing his wife was worse than anything whoever they'd report him to could do to him, so they agreed to let it go. Then Ryan said Rick might appreciate the irony of someone being bonded preventing him from having something to do with stocks and bonds. Esposito told him he was really stretching a point with that one and they left the lounge. Oh! Did it just go dark out there? I don't see any light under the door."

Broom flared his bristles. "That's what I was afraid of. The ice knocked the power out. The precinct has an emergency thing called a generator that should turn the lights back on soon, but that won't help anyone outside. Last time this happened the cell phones didn't work either, just the ones on the desks. That means Kate won't be coming in here to make any private calls to Rick."

Mop clacked his handle against the wall. "Double dirt!"

* * *

"What's going on the break room?" Broom asked as Mop returned with warm, moist, tendrils.

"Espresso steamed all over the floor again. He needed to spill to someone," Mop relayed. "Kate was in there with Ryan and Esposito. She was really worried. Rick was supposed to see Dr. Burke this morning and then call her to tell her what happened. She knew he couldn't use his cell because the cell towers don't have power, but the plugged in phone in the loft should be working and hers is, so she should have heard something, but she hasn't. She's afraid something happened but she can't leave the precinct because of the weather emergency. She can't spare any cops to go check on Rick either for the same reason, and she couldn't reach Martha or Alexis or Hayley. So she called her father and asked him to do it. He was surprised because Kate and Rick were still playing separated to him too, He agreed to try, but it's going to be hard because a lot of the lights that control traffic in the city are out and the subways aren't running. He may not be able to get to the loft."

Maggie's grip fell against Broomie's handle. "I hope Rick's all right."

Broom rustled his bristles in sympathy. "I've seen a lot of this over the years, Maggie, people get stuck all the time, even the cops. Rick is probably in his car somewhere. He just doesn't have any way to let Kate know. He'll probably be just fine."

"It's really late," Maggie noted. "Do you think Boomer's going to make it tonight?"

"I think I hear him now," Broomie replied. "That's the sound of his keys hitting each other."

"Kate's still in her office," Maggie observed as Boomer pushed the cart down the hallway.

"She's being the captain," Broom explained. "Besides, if the power is out where she's staying or at the loft, this is probably the best place for her to be. It looks like a lot of the other cops have stayed too. They have a lot of work to do and they have light and they can take showers if they want to. They may not be able to do that at home. Boomer will clean Kate's office anyway, unless she tells him not to. At least he'll dump Wastebasket. If there's any news, we'll hear it."

"Oh my!" Maggie exclaimed," her cloth quivering. "She still doesn't know where Rick is. Her father said Rick wasn't at the loft. She told Ryan and Esposito she's afraid to put to put a BOLO out on Rick's car because it would make it too obvious they're together. What's a BOLO?"

Broom scratched his bristles against Dustpan. "That's something they talk about when they're trying to find someone. It means all the police are supposed to look out for them."

"Then I wish she'd do it anyway," Maggie fretted. "If someone hurt him, what good is pretending? Oh! Her phone is ringing."

"Broom, is that as bad as it sounds?" Broomie asked. "A witness just made it into the precinct to report someone being dragged from a car at gunpoint. She got the license plate of the car he was dragged out of and the car is registered to Rick. The description of the man she saw matched Rick too. She said he was forced into a van but she couldn't get the plate on that."

"I think it is as bad," Broom replied grimly. "But at least the witness said he was conscious and didn't seem to be hurt. And now Kate can do something. She has uniformed units on the way to investigate. That way she can send the cops who are closest. She has Ryan checking to see if there was anything in the area with power to get video, too. If there was, he'll find it. He's really good at that."

"Master Cleaner help Rick," Maggie prayed.

Broomie rubbed against her in support.


	26. Chapter 26

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 26

"Did you find out anything about Rick?" Broom asked when Broomie was returned from the break room."

"Yeah," Broomie responded. "The reason I was in there was Kate kicked the vending machine and a bunch of things fell out and broke on the floor. She was sweeping them up. She was really swinging me hard against all the cookie pieces and chips. They were actually making noise when they hit Dustpan. Ryan and Esposito were with her and they were trying to calm her down a little and talking about what they'd found out so far. Espresso told me what he heard before I got there, too. Some unis canvassed the area where Rick was taken but they couldn't find anyone who saw anything. Ryan and Esposito thought the canvass started too late. A witness turned up later, a homeless guy who was trying to stay warm on a subway grate. He saw Rick grabbed, but had no way to call the police. No one knew what happened until later, because cops not on Rick's case picked the witness up a little while after Rick was grabbed, to take him to a temporary shelter because of the weather. He told those cops what he saw but they didn't take it seriously because they thought he was crazy. They finally put things together and called in when the bulletin came out. Then they went to the shelter to bring him to the precinct so he could work with a sketch artist. He's here now, but he's having trouble describing the guys who took Rick. He doesn't see very well and he doesn't have those things humans wear so they can see better. He can hear fine though and he told Kate that he thought the guys who grabbed Rick were speaking Russian.

"Kate was really mad at herself. I think that's why she kicked the vending machine and was sweeping so hard. She told Ryan and Esposito she was sorry that she ever went after LokSat. She thought the Russians were working for Sheila Bracken and had probably been watching Rick. They took advantage of the chaos - I guess she meant trouble - caused by the storm to grab him."

"Is there any good news at all?" Maggie wondered hopefully.

"Only that the power is back on in the city," Broomie replied. "That will make everything much easier. The cell phones are working again and a lot more cops are available. Kate said the only two places she could think of to check out are the Russian market where Jones was poisoned and Sheila Bracken's home. The market is closed down now, but Kate thought the Russians might be using the building. She sent units to check the place out. Kate said after she put William Bracken in prison, Sheila Bracken moved to a town home on the Upper West Side and that Hayley has a couple of the operatives watching the place because Kate has no case to justify police presence there. She also asked Ryan to pull all the traffic footage around Sheila's place and the Russian market to see if he can spot the van the took Rick. He left the break room as soon as she asked him that. He told her he'd scrub every inch."

* * *

"I can't wait to get out there tonight," Broom declared as Boomer wheeled the fully laden cart out of the closet. "After the applause we heard this afternoon, I really need to find out what happened. Boomer should be taking us to Kate's office first. Wastebasket should know something."

"Well that wasn't wasn't much," Broomie remarked. "It was nice Wastebasket heard Kate get a call but with her running out when she got it, he didn't really know anything else. He didn't even know who the call was from."

"We'll probably have more luck with the break room," Broom suggested. "The cops have probably been going in there and talking about whatever happened. Espresso should have all the details."

"That was a great story!" Broomie exclaimed. "I'm glad Espresso was able to put all the parts together. It's good that Hayley's people were able to follow Sheila to that Russian restaurant. Kate didn't know about the place, but Hayley's operatives were suspicious since the place wasn't even open. They called Kate and she went there with Ryan and Esposito."

"I really like what Rick did," Maggie added. "They duct taped him to a chair in the kitchen and left him there. What's duct tape, anyway?"

"It's that silver sticky stuff that Boomer is always using to fix things," Broom answered. "It's very tough. But that only makes the story better. Go on Maggie."

"Rick was taped to the chair," Maggie recapped. "The men who took him told him that someone would be coming to question him and if he wanted to avoid a lot of pain, he'd tell them everything he knew. They hit him to show him what it would be like, but they didn't knock him out. Then they locked him in and just left him there. But Rick had been taped to a chair in a kitchen before as research for a book, so he had a pretty good idea how to get loose. The other cops thought it probably hurt a bit, maybe a lot, but Rick got out of the tape. He was still locked in the kitchen though. He couldn't hear anyone and thought maybe the Russians had left. He really wanted to attract attention from anyone outside the restaurant, so he found a bunch of cans and put them in a big pan of water on the stove, on high. They exploded. People near the restaurant heard the noise from the explosions and called 911. Kate was already on the way, but dispatch sent more units to join her because of the 911 call. The Russians and Sheila Bracken ran out of the place. The cops thought they might have been afraid there was a gas explosion and the whole place would go up. They were laughing about how cowardly bad guys could be. Ryan and Esposito held Sheila and the Russians until the other units came and Kate went into the restaurant to find Rick.

"The Russians were arrested for kidnapping and brought back here and Kate arrested Sheila as an accomplice, until she can put together other charges against her. Except for Ryan and Esposito, the cops didn't know about any of the spy stuff except what the Feds did in the Jones case. Kate brought Rick back with her. That's what the applause was about. Officer Harrison said Rick had bruises on his face, but he seemed to be all right. All the cops thought it was obvious that Rick and Kate were back together again. Kate couldn't let go of Rick. She was putting ice on his face and she stayed with him while all the paperwork was done. Then he was lying on the couch in her office until they both left together. Espresso heard officer Harrison say that Kate and Rick were holding hands. She was really glad to see it."

Mop swirled his tendrils joyfully. "There's going to be fun in the loft tonight."


	27. Chapter 27

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 27

"Kate and Rick haven't been here for two days," Mop complained, his tendrils sagging listlessly against the wall.

"Well that's understandable," Maggie replied. "Rick needs a chance to rest and I'm sure Kate wants to be with him. Now that everyone knows they're back together, there's no reason why she shouldn't. But when I was cleaning up in the break room from that last big box of doughnuts, Espresso told me that Ryan and Esposito were talking about her coming back today."

Mop twined his tendrils around his head. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? I hope we can hear from Hairbrush somehow. I need to know what happened in the loft."

"This may be your chance now," Broomie offered as a female hand took Mop from his hook.

"You won't believe how much I have to tell you!" Mop exclaimed, his tendrils twirling with excitement as he was replaced in the closet. "There are two leaky sinks in the Ladies' Room now and Towel Dispenser had lots of time to tell me what he heard from Hairbrush, while I was sopping up all the water from the floor.

"Rick didn't spend all his time resting. Hairbrush and Lucy thought Kate might have wanted him to, but Agent Danberg called and told Kate and Rick he was was sending two agents to pick them up. Lucy told Hairbrush the agents came a little while later and put black cloth things over Kate's and Rick's heads. Rick and Kate weren't scared but they were a little annoyed. Kate was allowed to take her purse, so Hairbrush was along for the ride. She said the agents who came for Rick and Kate didn't talk to them at all on the way to wherever they were going but they were greeted by Agent Danberg once they got there. He thanked Kate and Rick for exposing Sheila Bracken, although Kate admitted to him that Rick had figured out that Sheila was LokSat. Danberg told them that Vikram had been brought in for debriefing. Hairbrush thought from the way he said it that Vikram wasn't going to like that. Then he told Kate that his people had tried to take custody of Sheila Bracken, but she wasn't at the precinct and she wasn't at the Tombs and they didn't know where to find her. They couldn't press the matter because officially what she was charged with was domestic and the CIA had no jurisdiction."

"Hairbrush said it sounded like Kate was smiling when she told Danberg that Sheila is at a safe house until Kate figures out just who can be trusted, since Sheila has so many connections in the CIA. Danberg argued that the CIA would be better at keeping Sheila incommunicado - Lucy said that meant Sheila wouldn't be able to talk to anyone. But Kate told him Sheila was already incommunicado. The only one she talked to was her lawyer and there were civilians trailing and monitoring him to make sure he didn't cause any trouble. Danberg suggested that they work together and keep each other in the loop. Kate agreed to that and told him if she found out anything he needed to know, she'd contact him. Then Rick and Kate were taken back to the loft.

"Kate talked Rick into trying to rest after that by telling him she'd lie down with him to keep him company. Rick thought that was a great idea and he fell asleep. But he started dreaming about the time he was missing again. Hairbrush said it sounded like he was moaning in his sleep, and not fun time moaning. Kate woke him up to stop it. Then they talked about him going to see Dr. Burke like he was trying to do when the Russians grabbed him. Kate said this time she'd take him herself and if anyone came close to him, she'd shoot them.

"Then Hairbrush said it sounded like they kissed. In the morning Rick woke up first and brought Kate some of the pretty coffee he makes with pictures on it. She told him how much she missed it when he wasn't around, that his is better than hers and more fun. They kissed again after that, but didn't do any more fun stuff because Rick called Dr. Burke's office. From what Hairbrush could hear, the first appointment of the day was the only one Rick could get, so he and Kate hurried to get ready and left.

"Hairbrush was in Kate's purse, but Dr. Burke wanted to see Rick alone, so she couldn't hear what happened. But when Rick was finished he told Kate that he remembered more. He told her that after whoever was questioning him finally realized he didn't know anything, one of the men pointed a rifle at him and took him to the woods somewhere. Rick was sure the man were going to kill him. He saw a tree he thought was dead and he pretended to stumble. Then he grabbed a bunch of dirt and dead leaves and threw it all in the man's face. While the man was trying to clear his eyes, Rick pulled the dead tree down on him, grabbed the rifle and ran. Rick said the guy must have had another gun on him because he shot at Rick. That's how Rick got the bullet graze on his chest. Rick shot back with the rifle and kept running, but he had no idea where he was going. Finally he found an old shack that was falling apart. He said it was really just a few boards, but he thought it would give him someplace to rest and try to stop the bleeding from the bullet wound.

"Then he told Kate the man they call Faux Jenkins found him there. Faux Jenkins told Rick he had been trying to track him down and he called in a team that put a bandage on Rick's chest and got him out of the woods. Rick thought Faux Jenkins' people would help him get home, but they didn't. They put him in a car with tinted windows so he couldn't see out. Then they took him someplace, but Rick didn't know where. Rick told Kate that was all he could remember so far, but he was going to see Dr. Burke again the next day and he was hoping he'd recall the rest of it. He was pretty excited to have remembered so much.

Rick said he was starved and wanted to stop for burgers at Remy's on the way back to the loft. He joked with Kate that this time they might actually eat them. Hairbrush wasn't sure what he meant by that, but Lucy explained to her later that when Kate brought burgers to the loft to celebrate their anniversary, she and Rick started doing the fun things instead, and Rick just dropped the bag on the floor. So Rick and Kate ate at Remy's before they went back to the loft. Then they agreed that they both really needed a good font. Hairbrush wasn't sure why, but they seemed to mean it was time to have fun.

Kate got Hairbrush out of her purse and she could see that Kate had put on one of those things that Rick like to take off of her. Kate brushed her hair a little and put Hairbrush on the dresser. Hairbrush could finally see what was happening."

Broom's wire's clanged loudly as he slid down into Dustpan. "Oh no! Here it comes!"

Mop drew himself up on his tendrils triumphantly. "Yes it does, Broom, whether you like it or not!"


	28. Chapter 28

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 28

Broom scratched his bristles uncomfortably against Dustpan as Mop continued relaying Hairbrush's tale. "Kate got on the bed but she didn't cover herself. She just looked up at Castle. Then he put one knee on the bed and leaned over her. She reached up and began to unbutton his shirt, but she was too slow so he helped her. Then he threw it on the floor. He got on top of her, kissing her - not just her lips but her face and her neck. Hairbrush said he worked his way down to the edge of the thing she was wearing. Then he pulled on what was tying it closed, with his teeth. It opened and he had his mouth on her bumps. She started moving around so much the bed was making a lot of noise. Then she reached for his belt and opened it and pulled it off. She worked at the zipper on his pants too, but she had trouble because they had gotten so tight around his handle. Finally he undid them himself and threw them on the floor too. He slipped the little thing Kate was wearing all the way off while she pulled off the last of what he had on.

"Then they were tasting each other all over, almost like they were some kind of food. Hairbrush said they were leaving little red marks, but they didn't seem to mind. Kate rubbed that place she has between her legs against Rick's handle and they were both breathing really hard and kissing until they were finally together. The bed started making even more noise as they kept kissing and they kept moving up and down. Then Kate was on top of Rick and he was holding her bumps while she kept going up and down until she just collapsed on top of him. They kissed again and then she just lay there for a long time. Finally Rick pulled up a puffy thing on the bed to cover them both and Hairbrush thought they went to sleep."

"Thank Master Cleaner!" Broom exclaimed.

"What happened when they woke up?" Maggie asked.

"Lucy helped Hairbrush with what happened after that," Mop continued. "Kate and Rick were having coffee in the kitchen and Lucy told them someone was on the way up. Then the doorbell rang. Lucy told Rick there was a woman outside and Rick asked Lucy to send a picture to his phone. He didn't recognize her, but Kate did. She told him it was Rita. They just looked at each other for a moment and Lucy said Kate was chewing on her lip, but then she nodded at Rick and he let Rita in.

"The minute Rita came through the door, Kate told her there was no way she was Rick's step mother. Rita admitted to lying about that, she said she just wanted Kate to think she had a reason to care about Rick. She'd wanted to keep Rick away from anything having to do with LokSat. She was afraid it would complicate things, and it had. She said the CIA was all over Sheila Bracken's connections in Afghanistan, including some that were friendly to the United States.

"Lucy thought Rick got very angry at that, but just because she was monitoring his temperature. He didn't yell. He was really quiet. He told Rita that the intelligence community used to think Osama Bin Laden was friendly to the United States and asked her how that had worked out. He told her the U.S. spies had been responsible for incredible misery in both his life and Kate's, as well as his daughter's and he didn't really care what the NSA, the CIA, or any other bunch of letters thought. He would find out as much truth as he could about what had been done to him and do whatever he could to keep his family safe, and that his family included Kate. Then he opened the door and told Rita to get out.

"She did, but before she left she told Rick if he ever revealed anything that was classified, especially if he tried to put it in a story, he'd be thrown in a deep hole, under the Patriot Act, and never see his family or anyone else again.

"After that Rick and Kate just sort of fell on the couch next to each other and held hands. Kate asked Rick what he wanted to do about remembering the rest of what happened to him. He told her that even if they were the only two who could ever know the truth, he still had to do it. He said he was sure the dreams would keep coming and the only way he could put them to rest would be to know the whole story, even if he could never tell it. He knew under doctor patient privilege Dr. Burke could never tell anyone anything either and that the doctor didn't know any of the details about Rick's mission to Thailand or much of anything about the Russians or their connection to Sheila, so it was probably safe to see him again. Kate agreed with that. She said she didn't want to leave him but she had to go back to the precinct this morning. She told Rick to call her before he went to see Dr. Burke again and she'd go with him. He said he would, and in the meantime he was going to check with Hayley to make sure nothing was happening with Sheila's lawyer. Then Kate came here. Towel Dispenser said Kate spent a lot of time just sitting in a stall in the Ladies' Room. That's why he had so much time to talk to Hairbrush."

* * *

Maggie rocked on her base. "Master Cleaner, what's going on out there?"

"It's got to be something big to make that much noise," Broom opined. "If the cops get busy, they may not have time to grab us, even if something spills. We'll probably have to wait until Boomer takes us around tonight to find out what happened."

* * *

"So what did you find out?" Mop demanded anxiously as Boomer returned him to the cart, still damp with sink leakage.

"Wow! So Much!" Broomie began. "Wastebasket said Kate got a call from Rick about the people Hayley had watching Sheila Bracken's lawyer. He couldn't hear what Rick said, just what Kate repeated and asked. But he thinks what happened was that a couple of black SUV's - I guess those are cars - went after the lawyer when he was trying to get into his car. The pulled him out, put one of those black cloth things over his head and drove him away. Hayley tried to trace the plates, but they weren't in any data base. Kate thought he'd been taken either by the CIA or Rita's people."

"That's the least of it!" Broom interjected. "Board said the cops Kate had watching Sheila's safe house got called away by dispatch, but the call was phony. While they were gone, someone shot Sheila right in the middle of the forehead."

"I don't think any of the humans will be sad that she's gone," Mop asserted.

"That may be true, but it means no one will ever get any information out of her either," Broom pointed out. "Kate told Ryan and Esposito that it could have been done by either what's left of her Russian drug ring or by American intelligence. Esposito said he'd put his money on American intelligence because the Russians would have just killed the cops guarding her instead of luring them away. Kate thought he was probably right. She said they'd work Sheila's death as a murder but if it was trade craft, there wouldn't be any evidence. She said she'd turn everything she had about the drug operations over to the DEA and let them fight it out with the other government agencies."

"Did anyone hear if Rick ever got to see Dr. Burke?" Mop wondered.

"No," Broom answered. "There is still a lot of that story to learn."


	29. Chapter 29

Castles in the Closet

Chapter 29

Broom's bristles flared to attention. "That sounds like Rick and Kate."

Mop twirled a tendril. "It is. They're coming in here."

"Why wouldn't they just use Kate's office?" Maggie wondered.

Broom scratched against Dustpan in thought. "If Rick went to see Dr. Burke and what he remembered is secret, Kate might not want anyone walking into her office while they're talking. If it's like last time and she had to wait while he was with the doctor alone, she might not know what happened yet. And if she has captain work to do, she might not be able to go to the loft until tonight to talk to Rick. Talking in here makes sense."

Maggie fluttered her cloth. "Shhh! Rick is telling her what happened."

Maggie let her grip fall against Broomie's handle as the door to the closet closed behind the Castles. "That was scary - and confusing. Is Faux Jenkins a good guy or a bad guy?"

"Let's try to figure it out," Broom proposed. "We can start where Rick did. Faux Jenkins put Rick into a room where he could lie down. Then someone came in and sewed up the wound on his chest and gave him some medicine to make him feel better. That's good, right?"

Broomie fluttered his straws. "But Rick was locked in. He didn't like that. And someone took some of his blood."

"Yeah," Broom agreed, "but Rick had a bathroom and he said there was even a little refrigerator with snacks, so he was as comfortable as he could be as a prisoner. When Faux Jenkins came back, he told Rick that his blood showed that the Russians had given him a drug to make him talk, but he wouldn't remember what he said. Then that Rita woman came into the room. She told Faux Jenkins that they would have to make Rick tell them everything he told the Russians. It looked to Rick like she was the boss. Rick said she put needles in him just like the Russians did, except he could remember what she asked and what he told her. She asked for everything he knew about Bracken's drug operation. She wanted to know everything Kate had told him. She wanted to know what he'd told the Russians about what Bilal had given him on Al Qaeda. She even wanted to know everything he'd heard or seen when he was working with Sophia Turner. Rick wasn't sure, because everything blurred together, but he thought Rita questioned him for days, maybe weeks. He said weeks made more sense because of how long he was gone. But then Faux Jenkins told Rick that he was very sorry, but Rick couldn't go back to Kate and his family again if he remembered anything about what happened while he was gone. He warned Rick that wiping that much time from his memory could be very dangerous and Rick could even die. But Rick told him that it wouldn't be worth living without Kate and his family anyway, so he told Faux Jenkins to do whatever he had to."

"Kate held Rick and kissed him after he said that," Mop reminded the group.

"Going on," Broom declared impatiently, "Faux Jenkins told Rick to tell him something no one else knew, so he'd have proof if he ever needed to tell Rick that he'd wanted to forget, in case Rick ever started to remember. Rick told Kate that he told Faux Jenkins about Hollander's Woods. She seemed to understand what that meant."

"Then I guess Faux Jenkins was nice," Maggie mused, "He let Rick make those videos for Kate and Martha and Alexis, telling them he loved them, and helped him keep them safe in a bank."

"But then it all went wrong," Broomie put in. "Faux Jenkins and a couple of his men took Rick to Gloucester Massachusetts to set up a cover for his disappearance before giving him the final drugs to make him forget. Rick realized that the way Faux Jenkins was doing it, it would look like he deliberately faked his own abduction and abandoned Kate and his family. Rick wanted him to find another way. Faux Jenkins told him there was no other way and had his men hold Rick down while he gave him more drugs. Faux Jenkins thought Rick was unconscious, but he wasn't. The drugs were just confusing him and he tried to escape before Faux Jenkins and his men realized what was happening. He took the dinghy he was found in and started to get it away from the dock. Rick remembers someone firing a gun at him, he thinks it was one of Faux Jenkins' men. Kate thought that made sense with three bullet holes that were found in the dinghy. After that, Rick thinks he really did lose consciousness because there wasn't anymore to remember until he woke up in the hospital."

"I guess Faux Jenkins was good and bad," Maggie concluded.

"Well a lot of humans are," Broom asserted. "I've seen a lot of people around here who thought they were doing the right thing but ended up hurting someone."

Broomie rubbed thoughtfully against Maggie. "I suppose you could count Kate in with those people. She thought she was doing the right thing breaking up with Rick, but all it did was hurt both of them. I guess Rick must understand that. That's why he forgave her."

Maggie slipped her grip over Broomie's handle. "He forgave her because he loves her," she decided. "He couldn't do anything else."

"Did you hear what Kate told Rick about not working on Sheila's murder because there's no forensic evidence?" Broom questioned. "She's taken everyone off the case. She's sure someone from the government did it, but she doesn't think she'll ever be able to prove it. But she said this is one unsolved case she can live with and Rick agreed. He thinks now they should put everything about LokSat and his disappearance behind them. And then he said he'd start by going to his office to find a new case to work on. He thought something noir - whatever that is - would be nice."

Mop swirled his tendrils around his head. "You forgot the best part. Kate told him she'd go by his office after she finishes at the precinct so she can have some time with her own private dick. From the way she said it and Rick smiled, I'm sure she was talking about having fun. I hope she doesn't forget to bring Hairbrush. Whatever they do should be good and I don't want to miss anything."

Broom rustled his bristles in dismay. "Mop, you never change."

Finis

A/N I hope the new year is starting off well for everyone. This concludes my entry into the Castle Ficathon for this hiatus. For now I bid farewell to the denizens of the closet, but who knows when they may ride Boomer's cart again. We have a whole month left before we see a new Castle, so I'll still be writing. (As usual) Next up an AU of what would have happened, if at the end of XX if Beckett had just told Castle the truth. It will be called _A Hole for Two_. I think we can squeeze in with them. Love, Sally


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